Galleon trader guilty of insider dealing

A former trader at the US hedge fund Galleon has been found guilty on insider trading charges, in the second important victory for prosecutors who wiretapped the fund's senior staff in wide-ranging investigation into illegal trading. The conviction of Zvi Goffer on 12 counts of fraud and two of conspiracy comes less than a month after Galleon's founder, Raj Rajaratnam, was also found guilty by a Manhattan jury.

Goffer worked for Galleon for seven months in 2008, and the charges related to trading activities between 2007 and 2009. His brother Emanual Goffer, and a third trader, Michael Kimelman, were also convicted yesterday. Prosecutors said Zvi Goffer was ringleader who paid cash bribes to two Ropes & Gray lawyers to learn what corporate deals the law firm was working on. The lawyers, Arthur Cutillo and Brien Santarlas, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.