7 charged in US insider trading probe

US authorities announced charges against seven people Wednesday in a hedge fund insider trading sweep that netted financiers across the country. Four people were arrested and charged and three more have already entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed by the chief federal New York prosecutor, US Attorney Preet Bharara. Companies in New York, Boston, Connecticut and California were targeted in the sweep. The seven -- financial analysts and money managers -- were charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. They allegedly made almost $62 million dollars in profits on trades made after illegally sharing non-public information about Dell computer giant in 2008-2009. The case described in the complaint is built on email and phone records and aid to prosecutors from the three cooperating defendants, who pleaded guilty in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. One of them, Sandeep Goyal, had previously worked for Dell, before going on to a global asset management firm in New York, where he continued to receive insider information from a so-far unnamed source within Dell, the complaint said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in the midst of tackling what Bharara, says is "rampant" insider trading on Wall Street. More than 50 people so far have been prosecuted. The highest profile target to date is Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of Galleon hedge fund, who was sentenced to a record 11 years in prison in 2011. His friend Rajat Gupta, a former director of Goldman Sachs and head of McKinsey & Co, faces trial this year on insider trading charges. In Wednesday's arrests, Anthony Chiasson, who surrendered in New York, was the co-founder of Level Global hedge fund. Todd Newman, arrested in Boston, was a former trader with the Diamondback Capital Management hedge fund. Jon Horvath, arrested in New York, was a technology stocks analyst, while Danny Kuo, a fund manager, was arrested in Pasadena, California.