Baker Hostetler partner Jonathan New was quoted in the April 6, 2011, Reuters article, “Repetition Marks Rajaratnam Prosecution.”
Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam allegedly obtained confidential corporate info from highly placed sources to earn millions in illegal insider trading. Prosecutors have called this the largest probe of insider trading in hedge fund history.
During the trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors played recordings of wiretapped telephone conversations to a New York jury in which Rajaratnam is discussing allegedly confidential information, showed records of him trading on the information and presented testimony of several cooperating witnesses.
“It’s easy to focus on the more sensational aspects here, but it is important not to lose sight of the ‘small’ witnesses,” said New, a white collar lawyer in the firm’s New York office. “The phone taps were effective because they pulled back the curtain on what was going on behind the scenes.”
New, a former Southern District of New York prosecutor, has extensive trial experience including using wiretap evidence. Prior to joining the firm, he served for nine years in a variety of frontline positions in the United States Department of Justice. As an Assistant United States Attorney, New was the lead prosecutor in the largest mortgage fraud prosecution in the Southern District of New York, resulting in the closure of a corrupt mortgage brokerage and title company and the convictions of dozens of real estate professionals, bank employees and attorneys. He also investigated and prosecuted complex criminal cases involving bank, mortgage and other commercial fraud, securities fraud, insurance and healthcare fraud, offshore illegal Internet gambling, money laundering, international trafficking in counterfeit goods, racketeering, conspiracy, murder, robbery, obstruction of justice, extortion, alien smuggling and narcotics offenses.