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IBM Insider Info Leaks Were Pillow Talk: US Attorney

Mark Kurland’s lawyers tried to get him off with just probation
By Maureen O'Gara
Article Rating:
May 25, 2010 05:30 AM EDT
Reads:
 6,651

New Castle hedge fund co-founder Mark Kurland, 61, drew 27 months in a federal lock-up and the forfeit of $900,000 last Friday for his part in the Galleon insider trading scandal, the first of the admitted conspirators to be sentenced for securities fraud.

Kurland was Danielle Chiesi’s boss and Chiesi is the aging beauty queen captured on wiretaps beguiling insider information on AMD, IBM and Lenovo out of former IBM senior exec Robert Moffat, tips that she, Kurland and others traded on.

Kurland’s lawyers tried to get him off with just probation, and argued that he shouldn’t have to do more time than Moffat, who like Kurland pleaded guilty and isn’t cooperating with the authorities but reportedly cut a deal that will see him get no more than six months in the slammer when he’s sentenced.

On hearing the Moffat comparison in court last week Bloomberg says the US attorney blurted out that Kurland was guiltier than Moffat because Kurland acted out of greed while Moffat had an “intimate relationship” with Chiesi, practically dignifying Moffat’s role as a crime of passion.

We said from the very beginning Moffat, who reportedly might have become IBM’s CEO, would have to do more explaining to his wife than to the feds, an insight reinforced when it became clear he didn’t tip Chiesi off for money.

Moffat’s lawyer is also supposed to make a bid for probation. Chiesi and ringleader Raj Rajaratnam go on trial in October.

Kurland, who got less than the federal minimum, has been ordered to start serving his sentence on July 23.

 

Published May 25, 2010 – Reads 6,651
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More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara

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