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ANIL KUMAR Former
McKinsey Director Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading with Galleon Hedge
Fund Manager
January 8, 2010
ANIL
KUMAR pleaded guilty to a two-count Information charging him with
conspiracy and securities fraud stemming from his involvement in the
largest hedge fund insider trading case in history. KUMAR was until
recently a senior partner and director at the global management
consulting firm McKinsey & Company ("McKinsey").
KUMAR pleaded guilty before United States District Judge DENNY CHIN to
conspiring to commit insider trading crimes with Raj Rajaratnam, a
partner of Galleon Management, LLC ("Galleon"), and the portfolio
manager of the Galleon Technology Funds. KUMAR consented to the filing
of a criminal Information against him and is cooperating with the
Government's investigation. According to the Information filed today in
Manhattan federal court, as well as statements made during today's
guilty plea proceeding:
Anil Kumar and Raj Rajaratnam's Corrupt Agreement
From 2003 through 2009, KUMAR and Rajaratnam, who met in the 1980s while
they were both at the same business school, conspired to engage in
insider trading. As part of that conspiracy, KUMAR obtained material,
nonpublic information ("Inside Information") from clients of McKinsey
and provided that information to Rajaratnam with the understanding that
Rajaratnam would trade on it. KUMAR provided this Inside Information to
Rajaratnam because, among other things, Rajaratnam paid KUMAR amounts
ranging up to $1 million in certain years, because KUMAR was an indirect
investor in Galleon, and because of their personal relationship. After
KUMAR provided this information to Rajaratnam, Rajaratnam directed
trading for the Galleon Technology Funds on the basis of it, and made at
least $19.7 million in illegal profits. These profits are separate from
and in addition to the $16.8 million in insider trading profits for
which Rajaratnam was previously charged in the Southern District of New
York.
Specifically, in 2003, Rajaratnam approached KUMAR and offered to pay
him up to $500,000 per year for information KUMAR obtained from McKinsey
clients. In his role as a director at McKinsey, KUMAR advised clients in
the technology industry concerning their business strategies, including
potential mergers and acquisitions. Rajaratnam proposed to pay KUMAR
through a third party located overseas in order to avoid detection.
Rajaratnam further proposed that the money then be reinvested in Galleon
for the benefit of KUMAR. KUMAR agreed and arranged to have an overseas
entity receive payments from Rajaratnam through a Swiss bank account.
KUMAR further arranged to have the funds invested in Galleon under the
name of KUMAR's domestic worker.
After this arrangement was in place, from 2004 to 2006, KUMAR began
supplying Rajaratnam with Inside Information about McKinsey clients. In
exchange, Rajaratnam paid KUMAR in the manner described above.
The AMD Inside Information
Toward the end of 2005, KUMAR began advising Advanced Micro Devices
("AMD") about its potential acquisition of a graphics company. By March
2006, AMD had focused on acquiring the graphics company ATI Technologies
Inc. ("ATI") and was involved in confidential negotiations to consummate
the acquisition. KUMAR provided this information to Rajaratnam, and in
March 2006, the Galleon Technology Funds invested in ATI. Over the
course of the next several months, AMD continued to negotiate with ATI,
KUMAR continued to inform Rajaratnam about the progress of those
negotiations, and the Galleon Technology Funds continued to accumulate
ATI stock.
On July 24, 2006, AMD announced publicly that it had reached a deal to
acquire ATI's outstanding common stock for a substantial premium over
the prior day’s trading price. The price of ATI’s stock rose
significantly on this news. That same day, the Galleon Technology Funds
sold all of its holdings in ATI, thereby realizing approximately $19.2
million in illegal profits. At the end of 2006, Rajaratnam told KUMAR
that he wanted to pay KUMAR a "bonus" of $1 million and that he needed
to determine a way to make the payment. Galleon subsequently wired $1
million into an account held by KUMAR in a foreign country.
In 2007, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
investigated Galleon and took sworn testimony from Rajaratnam. That same
year, Rajaratnam told KUMAR that because Galleon was under greater
scrutiny, KUMAR should find an entity to replace his domestic worker as
the nominal holder of KUMAR's investment in Galleon. KUMAR thereafter
switched the nominal holder of the investment to an overseas entity.
During 2007 and 2008, KUMAR advised AMD about a strategy it was pursuing
to spin off its manufacturing business but retain its design business.
KUMAR told Rajaratnam about this strategy and also told Rajaratnam that
such a deal would likely save AMD from going out of business because it
would allow AMD to eliminate significant costs and raise significant
capital to develop new products. During 2008, KUMAR kept Rajaratnam up
to date about the progress of AMD's confidential negotiations to carry
out this strategy.
During August, September, and October of 2008, the Galleon Technology
Funds invested tens of millions of dollars in AMD securities. On October
7, 2008, AMD publicly announced plans to spin off its manufacturing
operations and to receive an investment from another entity in Abu
Dhabi. That same day, AMD's stock opened up approximately 25 percent
over the prior day's closing price. Nonetheless, due to a broad decline
in the financial markets in September and October 2008, the Galleon
Technology Funds did not profit much, if at all, from trading in AMD
based on the Inside Information described above.
The eBay Inside Information
From 2007 through October 2009, KUMAR continued to supply Inside
Information to Rajaratnam, including information about AMD's financial
performance and information about other McKinsey clients. For example,
on October 2, 2008, KUMAR learned from a McKinsey client, which is a
subsidiary of eBay Inc. ("eBay"), that eBay planned to announce
substantial layoffs the following Monday, October 6, 2008, and that this
information was confidential. On October 3, 2008, KUMAR called
Rajaratnam and provided him with this Inside Information. Later that
same day, the Galleon Technology Funds shorted eBay stock. On the
following Monday, October 6, 2008, eBay publicly announced the layoffs.
Soon after, the Galleon Technology Funds closed out their short position
and realized approximately $500,000 in illegal profits.
Over the course of the conspiracy, Rajaratnam paid Kumar approximately
$1.75 to $2 million. As a result of reinvesting a portion of that money
in Galleon, Kumar received a total of approximately $2.6 million for
participating in the scheme.
The
Information charges KUMAR with one count of conspiracy to commit
securities fraud and one count of securities fraud. The conspiracy count
carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of
the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the
offense. The securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20
years in prison and a fine of $5 million. The Information also seeks
forfeiture of the money KUMAR received from the scheme.
KUMAR, 51, resides in Saratoga, California. KUMAR is scheduled to be
sentenced on March 26, 2010, by Judge CHIN.
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney said: "With his guilty plea
today, Anil Kumar acknowledged his role in a massive insider trading
conspiracy, which was essentially a getrich- quick scheme for the
already wealthy. His admission makes clear that there can never be a
level playing field for investors so long as some players believe the
rules don't apply to them. Greedy investors who cavalierly break the law
to buy their way to even greater wealth will be treated for what they
are: common criminals. Mr. Kumar has now taken responsibility for his
crimes and will start assisting us in holding accountable other corrupt
actors on Wall Street." |