He requested their help last week and even included some links on the proper formatting to use when drafting missives in an attempt to convince a judge to be lenient in sentencing.

From: Rengan Rajaratnam
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2011

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you for your support. Your calls, emails, texts, and inquiries are constant reminders that through this dark, tragic time, Raj and the family are not alone.

As we prepare for the appeals process, we need your help and I am I only sending this letter to a handful of people. The sentencing phase is coming up relatively quickly and the federal guidelines are calling for 15 to 19 years in jail. The guidelines are harder and less flexible than many prison sentences for violent and predatory offenders. This is simply unfair, and we are praying for leniency from the judge while we prepare for the appeal.

In the meantime, on behalf of Raj and the family, I would like to enlist your support one last time. Positive character letters from family, friends, and colleagues that know Raj well can play a pivotal role in helping persuade the Hon. Judge Holwell to be fair, and lenient during Raj’s sentencing.

If you can find it in your hearts to write a personal letter to Judge Holwell describing your relationship with Raj; when and how you met; as well as illustrate some of the positive experiences you’ve had with him, it would be of immense service to Raj and our family. The longer you can state you have known Raj, clearly the better.

The goal is to appeal to Judge Howell, by informing him that Raj is a loving human being with deep friendships and ties to the community. That Raj is a person of good character, a positive member of society who is deserving of the court’s leniency.

As many of you may be aware, Raj has donated significant amounts of money to charity in excess of $30 MM in the last 5 years alone. If you need specifics, please call me.

It is important that the letter come from you, and paints Raj in a positive light. Since time is of the essence, it would be great if you could send the letters to me before the end of the week or the early part of next week. My address is:

(FOR ENVELOPE):

[redacted]

The format of the actual letter is important, and there are several examples on the web. I have included one link that I found helpful on some guidelines on how to properly write a character reference.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4683439_write-letter-judge-before-sentencing.html

The actual letter should be addressed to the following Judge, and include Raj’s case information in the subject heading:

(FOR ACTUAL LETTER):

Hon. Richard J Holwell
United States District Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Courtroom 17B
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10007

Re: United States v. Raj Rajaratnam 09 Cr. 1184 (RJH)

Please show your name and address at the top right hand corner along with your telephone number.

Please call me at [redacted] if you have any questions on the process.

Thanks again for your help.

Rengan Rajaratnam

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

If you’ve been closely following the government’s Insider Trading Fest(ivus) 2010/2011 you know that one thing that’s emerged is a detailed guide to how one should go about destroyed evidence of securities violations that a jury would not look upon kindly. Garrett Bauer spoke to us at length about the benefits of washing versus burning dirty money while Donald Longueuil, the foremost expert on the matter, provided a step-by-step guide to getting rid of incriminating USB drives (you’ll need: two pairs of pliers, four plastic baggies, one North Face fleece). Yesterday, an (alleged) accomplice of (accused) insider trader/former Galleon employee Zvi Goffer added a chapter on getting rid of a cell phone that could cause trouble.

Santarlas, testifying under a cooperation agreement with the government, said he and another former Ropes & Gray attorney, Arthur Cutillo, told Brooklyn, New York, lawyer Jason Goldfarb in 2007 about acquisitions involving 3Com Corp. and Axcan Pharma Inc. He said Goldfarb gave him $25,000 for the 3Com information and $7,500 for Axcan.

“When I received the cash, Jason had told me to dispose of the phone — break it in half, submerge it in water and put it in a garbage can,” Santarlas testified.

[Bloomberg]

Earlier: If You’ve Ever Wondered What Donald Longueuil Might’ve Sounded Like On The Cold December Night He Told A Colleague How To Destroy Evidence Of Insider Trading, Wonder No Longer (MP3)

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

You’re an investment professional and have been making some trades that would fall under the umbrella of ‘securities violations’ for some time. Your colleague and co-conspirator has been acting a little weird (whenever you talk to him, he’s been asking detailed questions about how exactly you’ve obtained inside information, what you did with it, etc) and you start to wonder if perhaps he’s flipped, is cooperating with the government and has been recording conversations with you in order to get a better deal. If he’s started wearing a cravat and asking you to lean in “closer, closer” while chatting or to slow dance in the office kitchen, you may want to back slowly out of the room and lay low for a while.

David Slaine, the stock picker turned stoolie whose trail led investigators to hedge-fund titan Raj Rajaratnam, spent months making secret videos of friends and colleagues allegedly engaged in an insider-trading scheme. Slaine affixed hidden video cams to his hat, cravat and briefcase, helping investigators build their case against Zvi Goffer, an ex-Galleon trader, his brother Emanuel Goffer, and his partner Michael Kimelman.

Far from dramatic, the videos show shots of walls, a bookcase, Slaine’s checkered shirt and people’s foreheads, according to sources familiar with the tapes. While some tapes are expected to be entered as evidence, they will undoubtedly reveal the trickiness of surveillance when using informants. For instance, the government may show a videotaped conversation between Slaine and Goffer eating at a diner, but mainly for the audio, because the video only shows the corner of Goffer’s face, said a person close to the case.

Octopussy’s Video’s Less Than Stellar [NYP]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Gorman

So you’ve started a hedge fund and have decided the best way to maximize returns for investors is by trading on material non-public information. With the government’s crackdown on insider trading, odds are you will ultimately get caught and, if you’ve suffered blunt trauma to the head, will decide to take your chances at a trial by jury rather than settle. If you’d like some level of assurance you’ll have better odds than Raj Rajaratnam, who was deemed guilty by Day 2 of deliberations (despite the jury taking 12 days to spit it out), consider these tips from one of the women, Leila Gonzalez Gorman, who helped sent him away.

Tip #1: If you’re just getting started and have yet to name your firm, go with something that says “innocent” and “not guilty” and “does this look like a face that would insider trade? come on!”

“Galleon buccaneers, those are pirates, and he named his company after pirates,” Gorman said. “And if you look at the history of pirates, they’re thieves.”

Tip #2: Consider using a voice scrambler when discussing insider trading over a tapped phone line.

“The wiretaps helped but they were not the most compelling” evidence, Gorman said. “They were very, very helpful because you get to listen to the tone. It pieced everything together. It was a confirmation that this is definitely insider trading.”

Tip #3: Figure out jurors’ weaknesses and when running into them, try and act sympathetic. For example, if you know one juror has kidney problems, share that you’ve been a longtime sufferer of chronic uromysitisis and hate when people tell you where and when you can and cannot relieve yourself.

Although there were several tense moments — Ms. Gorman recalls telling one juror, “You can’t tell me not to go to the bathroom, go to hell” — she said they rarely disagreed on the facts of the case.

Tip #4: Hire lawyers a jury would want to bang.

“We called them all gorgeous,” Ms. Gorman said [of the prosecution]. “They were all hot.” She nicknamed Mr. Brodsky Napoleon, a tribute to his fiery attitude and how he dramatically brushed back his dark hair with his hand. She said the female jurors often joked about calling “dibs” on the more attractive members of the courtroom.

Stack Of Evidence Sealed Galleon Verdict, Says Juror [Dealbook via BI]
Raj Rajaratnam Was Deemed Guilty by Day Two of Deliberations, Juror Says [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Yes he does! “Get the fuck out of here. That’s what I’ve got for CNBC.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

“We started out with 37 stocks, we’re down to 14,” defense attorney John Dowd said today after his client was found guilty on 9 counts of insider trading and 5 counts of conspiracy. “The score is 23 to 14 for the defense. We’ll see you in the Second Circuit.”

[Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

On all 14 counts (9 counts of insider trading, 5 of conspiracy). Raj-Raj now faces up to 19.5 years in prison.

While we wait for the sentencing, wondering what took the jury so long (12 days) to come to a decision? They just didn’t want camp to come to an end.

Jurors in the Raj Rajaratnam insider-trading trial ended their 11th day of deliberations yesterday without a verdict — but with some picturesque mementos of their time together. After court ended, five jurors — including a New York City school teacher, a nurse and a graphic designer for Apple Inc. — sat in front of the fountain in Foley Square, near the Manhattan federal court where they’ve been deliberating for three weeks, and took turns snapping group photos.

With smiles aplenty, they looked like a group that really got along. While they may not have forged a consensus on the 14-count indictment, they seemed to have forged a friendship.

[NYP]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

We’ll apparently find out what that is at 10:40. In the meantime: consider this your last chance to vote:

a. guilty on all counts
b. guilty on some counts
c. innocent

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

We’re into Week 3 of deliberations on the insider trading case, with jurors asking to play conversations between Raj and his former friends/sources of what may or may not have been material non-public information, in addition to a phone call between Raj and his little brother, who could not match big bro’s skills in (ALLEGED) insider trading and lady slaying, though he tried his hardest. [Reuters, WSJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

A former hedge-fund manager at SAC Capital Advisors whose friend secretly taped him describing how he destroyed evidence of insider trading pleaded guilty Thursday. Donald Longueuil struggled to compose himself as he stood in court before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff and apologized for trading on inside information and discarding evidence. “I have learned a lot from my experience and I look forward to applying those lessons as I move forward with my life,” Mr. Longueuil said. [WSJ, earlier, earlier]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker