Rajaratnam's Conviction Points Way Toward New Focus on Aggressive, High-Tech Securities Probes
Today’s conviction of hedge fund co-founder Raj Rajaratnam points the way toward an aggressive new era in white-collar prosecutions on Wall Street.
The Galleon Group chief’s downfall is described by the New York Post as the biggest case of its kind since Rudy Giuliani took down Michael Milken nearly 20 years ago.
But the next big prosecution could come sooner:
In addition to targeting a high-level defendant, the Rajaratnam case is unusual because it was investigated using techniques that traditionally have been applied to organized crime rather than Wall Street, notes the Washington Post.
Besides wiretaps, the Securities and Exchange Commission is now using other high-tech tools, such as data mining, to identify targets for investigation in securities cases, explains an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
However, the wiretaps that nailed Rajaratnam likely will be at issue in his appeal, which could restrict their use in the future, says a Reuters Breakingnews opinion column.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge OKs Rajaratnam Wiretaps in Galleon Insider-Trading Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Another Attorney Takes Plea in Galleon Case, Admits Connecting Trader with Ex-Ropes & Gray Lawyers”
