Former beauty queen Chiesi faces four years in jail as she awaits sentence

Trader linked to Raj Rajaratnam set to appear in New York court Danielle Chiesi, the former beauty queen turned stock trader, faces up to four years in jail for her role in the biggest insider-dealing case in decades by a New York judge as she awaits her sentence today. Chiesi, 45, was the former confidante of hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam . She pleaded guilty to three criminal counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in January, in a move that was seen as a major breakthrough for the prosecution. Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, was the central figure in the biggest insider-dealing case the US government has investigated since the 1980s. He fought the charges but was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy in May and is awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors are pushing for Chiesi, who once compared trading inside information to having an orgasm, to receive up to 46 months in jail. Alan Kaufman, her lawyer, has argued that Chiesi never traded on the insider information in her personal accounts and was the victim of a “toxic” sexual relationship with Mark Kurland, her former boss and lover at trader New Castle Partners. Kurland, who also pleaded guilty in the Galleon case, is serving 27 months. According to a letter filed with the court by Chiesi’s boyfriend, identified only as “Billy,” Chiesi was manipulated by Kurland, who engaged in a “vicious cycle of abuse” and “psychological exploitation” to turn her into his “virtual servant”. Chiesi is scheduled to appear before judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan federal court. She will become the 10th person to be sentenced out of 46 guilty pleas and convictions secured in the massive insider-dealing investigation. Rajaratnam once ran one of the biggest hedge funds in the world. He was convicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy after a jury heard he had used a network of high-level contacts, including Chiesi, to gather inside information on top companies including Goldman Sachs, Google and Hilton. The jury in the Rajaratnam trial heard phone calls between the hedge fund billionaire and Chiesi that were secretly tapped by the prosecution. The pair discussed upcoming results from Akamai Technologies. The prosecution argued Chiesi passed inside information about the firm on to Rajaratnam. After he had made his investments, the Galleon boss called Chiesi: “Hi Dani. Raj. I just wanted to say thank you,” he said. She replied: “It’s a conquest. It’s mentally fabulous for me,” adding “I love the way I feel right now.” Hedge funds United States New York Goldman Sachs Google Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 20, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.