News One is reporting that former billionaire Raj Rajaratnam has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for insider trading, the longest insider-trading sentence ever. Prosecutors described Rajaratnam as "the modern face of illegal insider trading."
Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was also fined $10 million and ordered to forfeit $53.8 million by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell, who said that he concluded that Rajaratnam made well over $50 million in profits from his illegal trades.
"His crimes and the scope of his crimes reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated," Holwell said. "When the integrity of the marketplace is called into question, the public suffers."
The Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam, 54, was ordered to report to a yet-to-be-designated prison on Nov. 28. His lawyers asked that he be allowed to report to the medical facility at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina, where Bernard Madoff is serving his 150-year sentence.
The judge gave Rajaratnam leniency, citing his need for a kidney transplant and his advanced diabetes. And he credited Rajaratnam's charitable work, which he called "the defendant's responsiveness to and care for the less privileged." The judge also cited Rajaratnam's work to help victims of the earthquake in Pakistan and Sept. 11, among others. Rajaratnam declined to speak at his sentencing.
Eleven years isn't bad for someone caught via wiretap "celebrating" insider information. It is interesting who the court finds worthy of mercy and leniency because of medical issues. At any rate, Rajaratnam will have a long time to think about his shenanigans if he returns to good health.
Read more at News One.
In other news: Feds: LAUSD Fails to Provide Equal Education to Black Students.