NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A former Atheros Communications Inc vice president accused in the broad Galleon hedge fund insider trading case appears ready to plead guilty, according to a court document filed on Monday.
U.S. prosecutors and a lawyer for the defendant, Ali Hariri, signed a notice of the prosecutors' intent to file an alternative charging document known as an 'information' upon Hariri's waiver of indictment.
The 'information' is usually prepared when a defendant is ready to finalize a guilty plea.
Hariri would be the 10th of 21 traders, lawyers and executives accused of insider trading last October and November, to plead guilty in the case in Manhattan federal court in New York.
He was arrested last Nov. 5 and charged with conspiracy and securities fraud on allegations of providing confidential information about Atheros to a friend and business associate. A spokeswoman for Atheros said Hariri no longer works there.
The probe ensnared Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam as well as New York and Silicon Valley employees of some of America's best-known companies, such as Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel Corp; McKinsey & Co management consultants and International Business Machines Corp .
Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty and vowed to go to trial, which is scheduled for Oct. 25.
The defendants also face civil charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Prosecutors and market regulators said the accused made tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits by trading on confidential tips ahead of mergers and acquisitions, mostly in tech stocks, from around 2003 to last year.
Ali Hariri's lawyer, Cristina Arguedas, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The case is USA v Ali Hariri, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-mj-02436.
(Reporting by Grant McCool; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon) Keywords: GALLEON/HARIRI (grant.mccool@thomsonreuters.com +1-212-393-9461; Reuters Messaging: grant.mccool.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.
U.S. prosecutors and a lawyer for the defendant, Ali Hariri, signed a notice of the prosecutors' intent to file an alternative charging document known as an 'information' upon Hariri's waiver of indictment.
The 'information' is usually prepared when a defendant is ready to finalize a guilty plea.
Hariri would be the 10th of 21 traders, lawyers and executives accused of insider trading last October and November, to plead guilty in the case in Manhattan federal court in New York.
He was arrested last Nov. 5 and charged with conspiracy and securities fraud on allegations of providing confidential information about Atheros to a friend and business associate. A spokeswoman for Atheros said Hariri no longer works there.
The probe ensnared Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam as well as New York and Silicon Valley employees of some of America's best-known companies, such as Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel Corp; McKinsey & Co management consultants and International Business Machines Corp .
Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty and vowed to go to trial, which is scheduled for Oct. 25.
The defendants also face civil charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Prosecutors and market regulators said the accused made tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits by trading on confidential tips ahead of mergers and acquisitions, mostly in tech stocks, from around 2003 to last year.
Ali Hariri's lawyer, Cristina Arguedas, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The case is USA v Ali Hariri, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-mj-02436.
(Reporting by Grant McCool; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon) Keywords: GALLEON/HARIRI (grant.mccool@thomsonreuters.com +1-212-393-9461; Reuters Messaging: grant.mccool.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.