Raj Rajaratnam, a hedge fund billionaire, was convicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy.  It was a historic victory for the Justice Department when the verdict came in. They used tactics that were once only reserved for mobsters, drug dealers to help expose insider trafficking between financial professionals and their corporate insiders.

Rajaratnam, 53, was accused of using fraud to reap profits or avoid losses of more than $60 million.   According to Anthony Sabino, a professor at St. John’s University, this will user in a new era in white collar criminal prosecutions.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also stated that Insider trading should offend everyone who uses the stock market because “it cheats the ordinary investor, victimizes the companies whose information is stolen, and is an affront not only to the fairness of the market, but the rule of law.”

As a former Assistant U.S Attorney, I have had experience in many cases like these. These are very serious charges and if you are accused of a white collar crime, you will need a very good attorney experienced in federal criminal charges. As an Assistant District Attorney, I tried over 70 criminal jury trials, ranging from murder, armed robbery, sexual assaults of adults and children and kidnapping, to DUI, assault and simple drug possession.