HARVARD B SCHOOL GRAD RAJ RAJARATNAM SENTENCING THIS WEEK: WALL STREET TSUNAMI

Former Harvard Business School Grad and hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam faces a sentence of up to 24 years in prison this week before federal Judge Richard Holwell in New York. Insider trading observers have been watching the case closely since Rajaratnam’s conviction on 14 counts of securities fraud relating to his use of illegal insider tips on muti-million dollar stock trades. Rajaratnam is the found of the Galleon Group, a hedge fund which netted over 72 million on the basis of illegal insider tips including deals on shares in Goldman Sachs, Intel and Google Inc.. Last week prosecutors argued for the stiffest possible sentence reminding the judge that Rajaratnam was the leader and creator of a widespread conspiracy scheme involving many individuals who passed on private information. Some are saying that the judge will throw the book at Rajaratname in order to deter similar behavior which may be widespread in the industry.