As the jury continues to deliberate in the Raj Rajaratnam trial, the government notched another win in its investigation of insider trading at hedge funds.
Donald Longueuil, a former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud before Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Mr. Longueuil described in court how after reading news reports about the government’s insider trading investigation last fall he destroyed his hard drive that contained incriminating evidence. The government, however, dropped its obstruction of justice charge against Mr. Longueuil.
Under the plea agreement with the government, Mr. Longueuil faces a prison sentence of 46 months to 57 months. Judge Rakoff could depart from those guidelines.
“I am sorry for my actions, and the pain that I have caused my family and loved ones,” said Mr. Longueuil, choking back tears. “I have learned a lot from my experience and I look forward to applying these lessons as I move forward with my life.”
Federal prosecutors arrested Mr. Longueuil, 35, in February along with Noah Freeman, another SAC Capital portfolio manager; Samir Barai, the head of Barai Capital Management; and Jason Pflaum, an employee of Mr. Barai’s.
Mr. Freeman and Mr. Pflaum are cooperating with the government.
Neither SAC nor its founder, Steven A. Cohen, has been accused of any wrongdoing. The firm denounced the conduct of Mr. Longueuil and Mr. Freeman at the time of their arrest.
At Thursday’s hearing, Mr. Longueuil, accompanied by his lawyer, Craig Carpenito, pleaded guilty to trading in Marvell Technology stock based on an illegal tip provided to him by Mr. Barai. According to court filings, the source of that original tip was Winifred Jiau, a former employee of Primary Global Research, a so-called expert network firm. Ms. Jiau has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.
Judge Rakoff scheduled Mr. Longueuil’s sentencing for July 29. Mr. Longueuil, whose travel is restricted to New York and Connecticut, was granted a special request to travel next week to Sarasota, Fla., for his future mother-in-law’s 60th birthday party.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=43663eb73f7b1df0fecf5043d73e72da
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.