Thaindian News

Washington, April 23 (IANS) Rajat Gupta, Indian-American director of Goldman Sachs, may have tipped off hedge-fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam about a $5 billion investment in Goldman by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway before the deal was made public in 2008, says the Wall Street Journal.
But Gupta’s lawyer has categorically denied the charges of insider trading even as a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s office declined comment, the influential daily added.

Citing “a person close to the situation” the Journal said Friday: “The new disclosure stems from a government examination into whether the Goldman director Rajat Gupta gave inside information to Rajaratnam.”

In a court filing March 22, the government alleged that Rajaratnam or “co-conspirators” traded on non-public information about Goldman.

Then in a filing last week, the government provided more details about the information it alleges Rajaratnam received, including advance notice about the Buffett transaction with Goldman.

“That information came from Gupta,” the Journal said citing a person familiar with the matter. “Federal prosecutors notified Gupta in a letter that they had intercepted the phone conversations between him and Rajaratnam.

Gupta, who has not been charged in the case and has denited any wrong-doing, has already told Goldman he wouldn’t seek re-election as a director.

“Rajat has neither violated any law nor done anything else improper,” Gupta’s lawyer Gary Naftalis was quoted as saying. “He has always conducted himself with integrity in his business, philanthropic and personal life.”

Sri Lanka-origin Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, is fighting criminal insider-trading charges in the case. He declined to comment on any discussions with Gupta.

Goldman also declined to comment, the Journal said.