By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors may be close to obtaining a plea agreement with an eighth defendant in the widening Galleon hedge fund probe.
The government 'is in the process of finalizing a plea agreement' with Mark Kurland, a former executive at New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund, according to court records.
Prosecutors are also in 'ongoing' discussions with lawyers for two other defendants: Robert Moffat, a former senior vice president at International Business Machines Corp; and Rajiv Goel, a former director at Intel Corp's venture capital arm, the records show.
Theodore Altman, who represents Kurland, declined to comment. Lawyers for Moffat and Goel did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
At New Castle, Kurland was a colleague of Danielle Chiesi, who was indicted last month for insider trading. Alan Kaufman, a lawyer representing Chiesi, declined to comment.
Seven people have entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors in what the government has described as the largest-ever hedge fund insider trading case.
Earlier this week, a federal judge let stand the $100 million bail imposed on Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in the case.
In a Tuesday court hearing, the government said Rajaratnam's alleged illegal profits may have reached $41 million or more.
The government asked the court on Friday for permission to postpone their cases against Kurland, Moffat and Goel by one month to Feb. 16, saying the 'ends of justice' outweigh the interests of the public and the defendants in speedy trials.
Rajaratnam, Chiesi, Goel, Kurland and Moffat were among those arrested in October when the probe first came to light.
More than 20 defendants have been charged, but Rajaratnam and Chiesi are the only defendants so far to be indicted.
The cases are US v Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184; USA v Chiesi et al in the same court, No. 09-mj-2307; and USA v Goffer et al in the same court, No. 09-mj-02438.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Robert MacMillan and Matthew Lewis) Keywords: GALLEON/KURLAND PLEA (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors may be close to obtaining a plea agreement with an eighth defendant in the widening Galleon hedge fund probe.
The government 'is in the process of finalizing a plea agreement' with Mark Kurland, a former executive at New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund, according to court records.
Prosecutors are also in 'ongoing' discussions with lawyers for two other defendants: Robert Moffat, a former senior vice president at International Business Machines Corp; and Rajiv Goel, a former director at Intel Corp's venture capital arm, the records show.
Theodore Altman, who represents Kurland, declined to comment. Lawyers for Moffat and Goel did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
At New Castle, Kurland was a colleague of Danielle Chiesi, who was indicted last month for insider trading. Alan Kaufman, a lawyer representing Chiesi, declined to comment.
Seven people have entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors in what the government has described as the largest-ever hedge fund insider trading case.
Earlier this week, a federal judge let stand the $100 million bail imposed on Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in the case.
In a Tuesday court hearing, the government said Rajaratnam's alleged illegal profits may have reached $41 million or more.
The government asked the court on Friday for permission to postpone their cases against Kurland, Moffat and Goel by one month to Feb. 16, saying the 'ends of justice' outweigh the interests of the public and the defendants in speedy trials.
Rajaratnam, Chiesi, Goel, Kurland and Moffat were among those arrested in October when the probe first came to light.
More than 20 defendants have been charged, but Rajaratnam and Chiesi are the only defendants so far to be indicted.
The cases are US v Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184; USA v Chiesi et al in the same court, No. 09-mj-2307; and USA v Goffer et al in the same court, No. 09-mj-02438.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Robert MacMillan and Matthew Lewis) Keywords: GALLEON/KURLAND PLEA (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.