Prosecutor Bharara Tells Hedge Funds Cases Build Trust

Preet Bharara, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan whose office has sent inside traders and terrorists to prison, told attendees at a hedge fund conference that prosecutions foster confidence in the market.

“If you have open and aggressive and fair and proper and proven cases that you bring, and you show that in the kinds of cases that I’ve brought, that’s the kind of thing that over time gives people more confidence in the market,” Bharara said today at the annual Delivering Alpha Conference in New York sponsored by CNBC and Institutional Investor.

Bharara, previously Senator Charles Schumer’s chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, became the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan in 2009.

In June, Bharara’s office won the conviction of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Director Rajat Gupta for passing inside tips to Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam. Last year, prosecutors in his office won the conviction of Rajaratnam.

Since August 2009, at least 70 people have been charged and 64 have been convicted in the largest insider-trading prosecution in U.S. history.

Bharara’s successful prosecutions also include Faisal Shahzad, who pleaded guilty to driving a bomb-laden car into New York’s Times Square in 2010. Shahzad was sentenced to life in prison.

The audience at today’s speech included fund managers and analysts. Other speakers included KKR & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in New York at pathurtado@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net