Prosecutors knew since 2001 about Galleon seeking data

Galleon Group LLC, the hedge fund firm at the center of a $20-million insider trading prosecution, came to the attention of prosecutors by 2001 for allegedly soliciting internal data on Silicon Valley companies.

That year, the government charged tipster Roomy Khan, a former Intel Corp employee, with passing non-public information about the chipmaker’s backlog and billing reports, product pricing and sales to the Manhattan-based fund in 1998, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Jose, California in February 2001.

An unidentified representative of Galleon Management Inc sought the information from Khan, according to the document. In March 1998, Khan faxed documents from Intel's Santa Clara, California, offices to a machine at Galleon, prosecutors said in the complaint. Khan pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2001. Tamil-origin billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, Galleon Group's co-founder, was charged with insider trading on October 16, 2009. Rajaratnam has said he is innocent. His lawyer, Jim Walden, declined comment. Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman, also declined comment.

PTI adds: Rajaratnam, charged in one of the largest ever insider trading scam in the US, is estimated to have an asset portfolio worth $105 million in Sri Lanka.