Galleon Witness Testifies of "Super Confidential" Deal Tips

A government witness at the insider-trading trial of Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam told the jury Monday how he leaked details of “super confidential” negotiations between two technology companies to the hedge-fund chief, who was shocked at the terms of the possible deal.

The potential acquisition of ATI Technologies Inc., a Canadian graphics company, by chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. was so secret that the project was at first code-named “Supernova,” and then “Go Big,” said Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant who advised AMD on the deal. In discussions, AMD was referred to as “Los Angeles” and ATI was called “San Antonio,” he said.

But for months before the deal was announced in July 2006, Mr. Kumar testified, he had been discussing AMD’s plans with Mr. Rajaratnam. Mr. Kumar has testified that Mr. Rajaratnam had been paying him $500,000 a year for inside information, which was reinvested in Galleon through an account in India under his housekeeper’s name.

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