Prosecutors in the Galleon case have been playing jurors the most incriminating of the 2,400 wiretaps to demonstrate a pattern of insider trading. But as they move though 90 hours of tape another pattern has emerged: extreme cattiness. Raj Rajaratnam gossiped about his alleged co-conspirators’ family life, marital status, and how bad they sucked at insider trading, often seeming to pit one against the other. In one tape, Rajaratnam talks shit about former McKinsey partner Anil Kumar with former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta. Kumar has already pleaded guilty for insider trading. Kumar, the biggest fish ensnared in the SEC’s trap thus far, is currently facing administrative proceedings. According to The Wall Street Journal, during a July 2008 conversation Rajaratnam and Gupta denigrated Kumar’s deal-making skills:
“I’m getting a feeling that he’s trying to, just…be a mini-Rajat, right?” Mr. Rajaratnam says on the tape. “Without bringing anything new to the party, right? … Honestly, Rajat, I’m giving him a million dollars a year for doing literally nothing.”
But the real claws came out in a conversation Raj has with his baby bro Rengan Rajaratnam about a McKinsey partner who has since died.
Rengan Rajaratnam told his brother that the former McKinsey partner was “a little dirty,” and alleged that he freely offered him information on AMD.
“He’s like, ‘buy it, buy as much as you can as soon as you can,’” Rengan said and laughs on the call. “He finally spilled his beans.”
No argument here.
Calling Miss Manners: Tapes in Galleon Case Show Some Snark [WSJ via Dealbreaker]
