Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire hedge fund manager, was indicted Tuesday on insider trading charges. The 17-count indictment also charges associate Danielle Chiesi with securities fraud in connection with the alleged scheme in the tens of millions of dollars. The pair were originally charged in a criminal complaint.
Rajaratnam and five others were arrested by the FBI on October 16 for allegedly paying off insiders for non-public information and then trading on those tips. More than a dozen others were later arrested in the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors said hundreds of thousands of shares in stocks like Akamai and Clearwire were traded before information about those companies became public.
Rajaratnam denies any wrongdoing. "Mr. Rajaratnam is innocent and looks forward to his day in court," said defense lawyer John Dowd.
Rajaratnam is accused of conspiring with an executive from IBM as well as a director from McKinsey & Company.
Investigators said they used wiretaps to catch the money managers in the act. Prosecutors have called the case the largest insider trading case in the history of hedge funds.
Rajaratnam was born in Sri Lanka and is considered one of the world's richest men. He is expected to be arraigned on the indictment in the coming days.
