New York: A US judge hearing the insider trading case involving Raj Rajaratnam on Tuesday ruled that the prosecution could not submit as evidence video-surveillance footage that shows a former Intel Corp employee faxing confidential information to the Galleon group founder.
Judge Richard Holwell ruled against the admissibility of the footage a day after the defence and prosecution had argued about the admissibility of the two videotapes and faxed information.
The footage shows former Intel Corp employee Roomy Khan faxing confidential information on Intel from late 1997 to early 1998 to Rajaratnam.
Judge Holwell decided that the footage was not relevant to the current charges against the defendant.
Rajaratnam, accused of making $45 million from insider trading, is the main defendant in the case.
Out of 26 people arrested in the case, 19 have pleaded guilty.
Rajaratnam, who is charged with 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud, denies wrongdoing.
If found guilty, the 53-year-old former billionaire, faces up to 20 years in prison.
Khan, a former Intel executive, has pleaded guilty but will not be called as a witness in the trial.
The prosecution will present 2006-2007 phone records between Khan and Rajaratnam to draw a connection between their conversations and the subsequent trading done by the defendant.
The prosecution wanted to use the older material to back up the more recent communication between Khan and Rajaratnam.
The judge, however, said the government could use other evidence to establish the charge.
The prosecution is expected to rest tomorrow.
Comments
0 comment