Galleon Prosecutors Held Talks to Resolve Cases
Galleon Prosecutors Held Talks to Resolve Cases
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Zvi Goffer, a former Galleon Group employee, leaves federal court following an arraignment hearing in New York.
Zvi Goffer, a former Galleon Group employee, leaves federal court following an arraignment hearing in New York. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Federal prosecutors told a judge they’ve had “conversations” to resolve criminal cases against defendants charged in an alleged insider-trading ring led by former Galleon Group LLC trader Zvi Goffer.
In a declaration filed in federal court in Manhattan this month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky cited his office’s “conversations with counsel, including cooperating witnesses and defendants, regarding dispositions in connection with the Goffer criminal investigation.”
The three-page declaration was filed by Brodsky as part of an effort to convince a judge that the government’s criminal prosecution has been distinct from a civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Brodsky wrote that the prosecutors’ talks have been “separate and apart from any conversations between the staff of the SEC and these individuals.” Citing Brodsky’s declaration, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan today denied a request by the criminal defendants to obtain documents held by the SEC.
Goffer is among seven people indicted in January for trading on inside tips obtained from lawyers at Ropes & Gray LLP and elsewhere. One of the seven, David Plate, pleaded guilty on July 16 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
JaneAnne Murray and Pery Krinsky, lawyers for defendants Craig Drimal and Emanuel Goffer, respectively, declined to comment. Attorneys for other defendants didn’t immediately returned calls.
Wave of Arrests
The seven are among 21 people charged in two overlapping insider trading cases involving Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam. Twelve have pleaded guilty. Most but not all have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against others.
The first wave of arrests in the case came on Oct. 6, when Rajaratnam was among six people accused by federal prosecutors. Four of those have pleaded guilty. Rajaratnam has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors launched a second wave of arrests on Nov. 5, and in January they returned an indictment against Goffer and the others.
The case is U.S. v. Goffer, 10-cr-56, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in New York at dglovin@bloomberg.net; Patricia Hurtado in New York at pathurtado@bloomberg.net
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