Feds Raid 3 Hedge Funds Linked To Trading Probe
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided three hedge funds linked to a broader insider-trading probe, law enforcement officials said Monday.
Bureau employees searched the New York offices of Level Global Investors LP, and the Stamford, Conn. headquarters of Diamondback Capital Management LLC, an official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case.
The FBI confirmed that it executed search warrants at both locations and a third at 30 Federal St. in Boston. Hedge fund Loch Capital Management LLC has its headquarters at that address.
FBI spokesman James Margolin said the agency is "conducting searches in an ongoing investigation." He would not comment further.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are investigating insider trading by hedge funds, mutual funds and investment bankers. The companies allegedly earned tens of millions in illegal profits using secret information about mergers, the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend.
Diamondback and Level Global both are run by former managers of SAC Capital Advisors LP, of Stamford, Conn. Diamondback manages about $4.71 billion, according to public filings. Level Global manages $3.09 billion, filings show.
Loch Capital is run by brothers Timothy and Todd McSweeney. The brothers have been linked in news reports to hedge-fund manager Steven Fortuna. Fortuna pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from an earlier insider trading investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The raids come a month after U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan told the New York City Bar Association that white-collar crime was on the rise, carried out by Wall Street heavyweights who consider inside information "a performance enhancing drug that provides the illegal 'edge' to outpace their rivals and make even more money."
Bharara said his office and the FBI had both recently added more resources to exposing insider trading and considered it a top criminal priority.
"Disturbingly, many of the people who are going to such lengths to obtain inside information for a trading advantage are already among the most advantaged, privileged, and wealthy insiders in modern finance," he said last month.
A spokesman for Level Global confirmed that the FBI searched the firm's offices.
"We can confirm that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited our offices this morning as part of what we believe to be a broader investigation of the financial services industry discussed in media reports over the weekend," the spokesman said in a statement. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities and, at the same time, we are fully operational and continue to work diligently for the benefit of our investors."
Diamondback portfolio manager Andrea Feinstein declined to comment about the search. A spokesman for the SEC did not respond to requests for comment.
Calls to Loch Capital were not returned. Leonard Pierce, a lawyer for the fund, did not return a call seeking comment.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
