In Case You Needed A Spiteful, Vengeful Pick-Me-Up

The founder of the hedge fund Galleon, Raj Rajaratnam, convicted on 14 counts of insider trading, has lost his final appeal that could have spared or delayed his having to go to prison. He will begin an 11-year prison sentence on Monday, the longest prison term ever given for insider trading. Rajaratnam will seek further appeals, mainly relating to government use of wiretaps, but he will have to do so from the inside of his cell. Bail was denied; though the ruling from the court did not say why, Rajaratnam was considered an unreasonable flight risk by the prosecution due to his background in Sri Lanka and the fact that, when someone flees to Sri Lanka, the United States has yet to get anyone back through extradition.

The SEC is also assessing a $92.8 million penalty against Rajaratnam, another record for insider-trading cases.

So yes, someone is getting punished for it. And more might be; key witness Roomy Khan, who has been cooperating in a probe that has resulted in the convictions of 29 people, Rajaratnam included, evidently is not done cooperating yet.

Galleon was responsible for $7 billion.