Goldman Sachs in insider info probe

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NEW YORK, April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. investigators are looking into whether a Goldman Sachs Group executive tipped Galleon Group on pending deals, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Citing people it said were familiar with the matter, the newspaper said federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into whether Matthew Korenberg provided advance word to a Galleon Group portfolio manager about mergers, including the acquisition of medical-device maker Advanced Medical Optics by Abbott Laboratories in 2009.

Korenberg is a Goldman Sachs managing director in San Francisco. His attorney, John Hueston, told the Journal investigators have been looking into Korenberg's dealings since 2009, and the investigation "has come to nothing and for good reason, because Matt Korenberg has never tipped inside information."

Investigators are trying to determine whether Korenberg passed information to Galleon portfolio manager Paul Yook, the newspaper said. Yook could not be reached for comment on the report.

"We have been aware of these allegations for more than two years, investigated them, fully cooperated with federal authorities in the matter, and Matt Korenberg remains actively employed by the firm," Goldman Sachs said in a statement.

Korenberg has not been charged with any wrongdoing, the Journal noted. Federal prosecutors last week provided his name confidentially to attorneys for Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director who has pleaded not guilty to giving inside information to Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, the Journal said.