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I Rest My Case, Says Raj Rajaratnam

Published: Apr 18, 2011

 Finance       

At the begining of the seventh week of the U.S. v. Raj Rajaratnam, the defense has rested -- without the big guy taking the stand.

raj rajaratnam and wifeThat is, as expected, Raj Raj and his legal team allowed the recorded Raj Raj to speak for himself and prevented the real Raj Raj (accused off five counts of conspiracy and nine counts of securities fraud) from taking the stand, swearing on the holy book, and answering any questions under oath.

Instead of Raj Raj's denial, what the defense mostly relied on were attempts to discredit a handful of prosecution's witnesses that had ratted out Raj Raj in exchange for lighter sentences; testimony by witnesses who could attest to Raj Raj's very generous nature; and claims that all that allegedly material inside stuff that Rajaratnam got from Gupta and Smith and others was just your everyday publicly available 411 that any Larry, Dick, or Moe could've found.

Closing arguments will begin this Wednesday. If convicted, Raj could receive a sentence of up to 20 years.

(Bloomberg: Rajaratnam Defense Rests in Galleon Insider-Trading Case)

(Related: This Week in Insider Trading)

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