Rengan Rajaratnam acquitted in insider trading case

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) -- Hedge-fund manager Rengan Rajaratnam has been found not guilty of conspiring with his older brother Raj in insider trading.

Tuesday's acquittal was the first loss for Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for New York's Southern District, after a long string of convictions. Bharara, who charged 88 people in what prosecutors said was a massive conspiracy, has won 10 guilty verdicts and 71 guilty pleas with the rest still unresolved.

In Rengan Rajaratnam's case, the judge dismissed most of the charges against him mid-trial, leaving a single count of conspiracy. The jury acquitted him after four hours of deliberation.

"While we are disappointed with the verdict on the sole count that the jury was permitted to consider, we respect the jury trial system whatever the outcome, and we thank the jury for their service," Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years for insider trading. A juror in his brother's case said the evidence there was weak.

"I think there was an element of retrying Raj Rajaratnam instead of Rengan," Miriam Goderich, a literary agent, told the Wall Street Journal. "It just seemed like the evidence was so underwhelming that you couldn't convict."

Rengan Rajaratnam is still the target of a civil action by the Securities and Exchange Commission.