By Bob Van Voris - Dec 13, 2011 5:09 AM GMT+0700
Raj Rajaratnam, the former hedge- fund manager serving an 11-year prison sentence for insider trading, can have his passport back, along with the title to his $17.5 million Manhattan apartment and $2.5 million in cash.
Rajaratnam, 54, the Galleon Group LLC co-founder, reported to a federal medical prison in Ayer, Massachusetts, Dec. 5 to begin serving his sentence. U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell agreed with prosecutors that Rajaratnam’s assets, which secured his $100 million bond, should be returned.
“The defendant has fulfilled all the conditions of the appearance bond and he is currently in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons serving his sentence,” lawyers for Rajaratnam and the government said in an agreement endorsed by Holwell Dec. 9 and released today.
Rajaratnam was convicted in May of directing the biggest insider-trading ring in a generation. His was the longest sentence ever handed down for such a crime and the culmination of a four-year nationwide probe of insider trading. A three- judge panel rejected his last-minute plea to remain free while he appeals his conviction.
In addition to his prison sentence, Rajaratnam was ordered to pay a $10 million fine and forfeit $53.8 million. He must also pay $92.8 million in a civil case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the biggest fine assessed against an individual in an insider-trading case, according to the agency.
Holwell ordered the passport turned over to Rajaratnam’s lawyers. Unless his conviction is reversed on appeal, it’s unlikely Rajaratnam will be able to use it. U.S. passports expire after 10 years and Rajaratnam isn’t due to be released until 2021, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
The criminal case is U.S. v. Rajaratnam, 09-01184, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in New York at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
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