FINAL JUDGEMENT AGAINST RELIEF DEFENDANT LANEXA MANAGEMENT LLC

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:
March 19, 2012
Lanexa Management LLC Agrees Disgorge $746,797 in Insider Trading Profits
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on March 16, 2012, The Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, entered a final judgment against Relief Defendant Lanexa Management, LLC in SEC v. Thomas C. Hardin and Lanexa Management, LLC, 10-CV-8599, an insider trading case the SEC originally filed on November 12, 2010. See Lit. Rel. No. 21741 (Nov. 15, 2010). As alleged in the SEC’s amended complaint, filed on March 16, 2012, Defendant Thomas C. Hardin, a former managing director at Lanexa Management, engaged in insider trading on behalf of a Lanexa hedge fund ahead of the announced acquisition of 3Com Corp. in September 2007, resulting in more than $600,000 in illegal trading profits.

The SEC’s amended complaint alleged that Arthur Cutillo and Brien Santarlas, two former attorneys with the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP, misappropriated from their law firm material nonpublic information concerning the acquisition of 3Com, and tipped the inside information, through another attorney, to Zvi Goffer, a former proprietary trader at Schottenfeld Group LLC, in exchange for kickbacks. The SEC further alleged that Goffer tipped the inside information to, among others, Gautham Shankar, a fellow proprietary trader at Schottenfeld, who then tipped Hardin, a managing director at Lanexa. As alleged in the amended complaint, Hardin used the inside information to trade in the securities of 3Com on behalf of a Lanexa hedge fund.

To settle the SEC’s action, Lanexa agreed to a final judgment ordering it, as a relief defendant, to disgorge $612,190 in illicit trading profits, plus prejudgment interest of $134,607. Hardin previously consented to a judgment in this case and pled guilty to charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a related criminal case, United States v. Thomas Hardin, 10-CR-339 (S.D.N.Y.). See Lit. Rel. No. 21999 (June 14, 2011).

HEDGE FUND AND MANAGER CHARGED BY SEC WITH INSIDER TRADING

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

“Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a hedge fund manager and his Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm for their involvement in the insider trading ring connected to Raj Rajaratnam and hedge fund advisory firm Galleon Management.

The SEC alleges that Douglas F. Whitman and Whitman Capital illegally traded based on material nonpublic information obtained from Rajaratnam associate Roomy Khan, who was Whitman's friend and neighbor. Khan tipped Whitman with confidential details about Polycom Inc.'s fourth quarter 2005 earnings and Google Inc.'s second quarter 2007 earnings prior to the public announcements of those financial results by the companies. Whitman Capital reaped nearly $1 million in ill-gotten gains by trading on Khan's illegal tips.

"Whitman engaged in what even he termed 'slimeball' activity and together with Khan brought new illicit meaning to the maxim 'help thy neighbor,'" said George S. Canellos, Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office.

Sanjay Wadhwa, Associate Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office and Deputy Chief of the Market Abuse Unit, added, "This action should send a strong signal that the SEC will continue to pursue every angle of the Galleon investigation to hold accountable those who have undermined the integrity of our markets by engaging in illegal insider trading."

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, the inside information about Polycom and Google used by Whitman is the same information that the SEC has previously alleged Khan provided to many of her hedge fund contacts, including Rajaratnam as well as Robert Feinblatt and Jeffrey Yokuty at Trivium Capital.
The SEC alleges that Khan illegally tipped Whitman in January 2006 with information about Polycom's quarterly financial results, and she noted that these details were nonpublic and acquired from a source at Polycom. Whitman Capital accumulated 132,263 shares of Polycom stock in the next two weeks. When the company announced its results on January 25, Whitman Capital liquidated its entire Polycom position for a profit of more than $360,000. On at least one later occasion, in September 2008, Whitman asked Khan to contact her Polycom source to obtain inside information about the company's upcoming earnings so the two could "short it." When Khan rebuffed Whitman citing a fear of getting caught, Whitman suggested that she use "Skype" to avoid detection. Whitman later stated that he would stop speaking to Khan if she wasn't going to be a "slimeball" anymore.
The SEC further alleges that Khan illegally tipped Whitman with inside information about Google's quarterly financial results shortly before the company's post market-close earnings announcement on July 19, 2007. At Whitman's insistence, Khan identified her Google source as an employee of an investor relations firm used by Google. Whitman Capital funds then purchased 2,761 Google put option contracts based on the tip from Khan. On July 20, Whitman Capital closed the put option positions and generated ill-gotten profits of more than $620,000. Afterwards, Whitman sent Khan a large floral arrangement to thank her for the tip.

The SEC's complaint charges Whitman and Whitman Capital with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint seeks a final judgment permanently enjoining the defendants from future violations of the above provisions of the federal securities laws, ordering them to disgorge their ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and ordering them to pay financial penalties.

The SEC has charged 30 defendants in its Galleon-related enforcement actions, which have exposed widespread and repeated insider trading at numerous hedge funds and by other traders, investment professionals, and corporate insiders located throughout the country. The insider trading occurred in the securities of more than 15 companies for illicit profits totaling more than $91 million.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by John Henderson and Joseph Sansone - members of the SEC's Market Abuse Unit in New York - and Diego Brucculeri and James D'Avino of the New York Regional Office. Kevin McGrath and Valerie Szczepanik will lead the SEC's litigation effort. The SEC thanks the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their ongoing assistance in the matter.”

BILLION DOLLAR HEDGE FUNDS CHARGED BY SEC WITH INSIDER TRADING

The following excerlt is from an SEC e-mail:

"Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two multi-billion dollar hedge fund advisory firms as well as seven fund managers and analysts involved in a $78 million insider trading scheme based on nonpublic information about Dell’s quarterly earnings and other similar inside information about Nvidia Corporation.

The charges stem from the SEC’s ongoing investigation into the trading activities of hedge funds. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against the same seven individuals.

The SEC alleges that a network of closely associated hedge fund traders at Stamford, Conn.-based Diamondback Capital Management LLC and Greenwich, Conn.-based Level Global Investors LP illegally obtained the material nonpublic information about Dell and Nvidia. Investment analyst Sandeep “Sandy” Goyal of Princeton, N.J., obtained Dell quarterly earnings information and other performance data from an insider at Dell in advance of earnings announcements in 2008. Goyal tipped Diamondback analyst Jesse Tortora of Pembroke Pines, Fla., with the inside information, and Tortora in turn tipped several others, leading to insider trades on behalf of Diamondback and Level Global hedge funds.

“These are not low-level employees succumbing to temptation by seizing a chance opportunity. These are sophisticated players who built a corrupt network to systematically and methodically obtain and exploit illegal inside information again and again at the expense of law-abiding investors and the integrity of the markets,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the illicit gains in the Dell insider trades exceeded $62.3 million, and the illicit gains in the Nvidia insider trades exceeded $15.7 million. For his role in the scheme, Goyal was paid $175,000 in soft dollar payments that were deposited in a brokerage account of an individual affiliated with him.

The SEC alleges that after obtaining the inside information from Goyal in advance of Dell’s first and second quarter earnings announcements in 2008, Tortora tipped his portfolio manager at Diamondback, Todd Newman of Needham, Mass. Newman traded on the information on behalf of the Diamondback hedge funds he controlled. Tortora also tipped Spyridon “Sam” Adondakis, an analyst at Level Global. Adondakis tipped his manager Anthony Chiasson, who then traded on the inside information on behalf of Level Global hedge funds. During this time period, both Adondakis and Chiasson lived in New York City

.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Tortora also tipped two others at firms other than Diamondback or Level Global with the Dell inside information: Jon Horvath of New York City andDanny Kuo of San Marino, Calif. Horvath caused insider trades at his firm that resulted in approximately $1.4 million of illicit gains. Kuo similarly caused the firm where he worked to execute profitable insider trades in Dell securities.

The SEC further alleges that Kuo also obtained inside information about Nvidia Corporation’s calculation of its revenues, gross profit margins, and other financial metrics in advance of the company’s first quarter 2010 earnings announcements, which was made in May 2009. Kuo again caused his firm to trade on inside information. Kuo’s insider trades in Dell and Nvidia resulted in approximately $270,000 in ill-gotten gains. Kuo also tipped Tortora at Diamondback and Adondakis at Level Global with the nonpublic information about Nvidia. Tortora again tipped Newman, who made more insider trades on behalf of the Diamondback hedge funds. The illegal trades in Dell and Nvidia securities resulted in $3.9 million in illicit gains for Diamondback. At Level Global, Adondakis tipped Chiasson who made the insider trades on behalf of those hedge funds. Chiasson’s insider trades in Dell and Nvidia resulted in approximately $72.6 million of illicit gains for the Level Global hedge funds.

The SEC’s complaint charges each of the defendants with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and, additionally, charges Goyal, Tortora, Newman, Adondakis, Chiasson, Horvath and Kuo with aiding and abetting others’ violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC’s complaint seeks a final judgment ordering the defendants to disgorge their ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, ordering them to pay financial penalties, and permanently enjoining them from future violations of these provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Joseph Sansone, Daniel Marcus and Stephen Larson – members of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York – and Matthew Watkins, Neil Hendelman, Diego Brucculeri and James D’Avino of the New York Regional Office. The SEC thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in the matter."