Former Harvard Law Student Convicted of Insider Trading

[From article]

Former Harvard Law student and SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager Mathew Martoma was found guilty of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud Thursday afternoon. The 39-year-old Martoma faces a maximum sentence of 45 years.

In a scheme that netted SAC Capital $275 million and scored a $9.3 million bonus for Martoma, he and colleagues made trades based on insider information about the testing of a drug to potentially cure Alzheimer’s, according the federalcomplaint against Martoma.

During the court proceedings, it was also discovered that Martoma was expelled from Harvard Law School in 1999 for creating a false transcript and using it to apply for clerkships with federal judges.

[. . .]

Martoma came to Harvard Law School after graduating from Duke University. Following his expulsion from Harvard Law School, Martoma applied to and was accepted to Stanford Business School, where he earned an MBA in 2003.

The court documents also revealed that Martoma, who changed his name from Ajai Mathew Thomas to Mathew Martoma after his expulsion, tried to deceive the Law School Administrative Board during his hearing there. Martoma altered emails and submitted a counterfeit report from a computer forensics firm that he created to hide his activities from the Ad Board.

[. . .]
Martoma’s Ad Board hearing and subsequent expulsion were only revealed after a judge unsealed court records detailing the case before Martoma’s federal trial.
[. . .]

Martoma was the eighth SAC Capital employee to plead guilty or be convicted of insider trading. Martoma’s lawyer told news outlets that his client planned to appeal.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/2/6/martoma-law-school-convicted/

Former Law Student Martoma Convicted of Insider Trading in SAC Case

By TYLER S. OLKOWSKI, 

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

February 6, 2014

Crudele Warned of Paulson's Meetings 2 Years Ago

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/fix_was_in_bloomberg_mag_seconds_t0MKHkjTB8AMZGGj8tAbtJ

Fix was in: Bloomberg mag seconds a scoop
John Crudele
New York Post
Last Updated: 4:26 AM, December 8, 2011
Posted: 12:49 AM, December 8, 2011

Potential Insider Trading At Treasury, Education Depts

[From article]
"The fund manager says he was shocked that Paulson would furnish such specific information -- to his mind, leaving little doubt that the Treasury Department would carry out the plan. The managers attending the meeting were thus given a choice opportunity to trade on that information.
[. . .]
“You just never ever do that as a government regulator -- transmit nonpublic market information to market participants,” says Black, who’s a former general counsel at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. “There were no legitimate reasons for those disclosures.”
[. . .]
“What is this but crony capitalism?” she asks. “Most people have had their fill of it.”
[. . .]
Paulson is now a distinguished senior fellow at the University of Chicago, where he’s starting the Paulson Institute, a think tank focused on U.S.-Chinese relations.
[. . .]
Several U.S. agencies face increased scrutiny in Congress for possible improper disclosures or ties to hedge funds. Senators are looking into whether the U.S. Department of Education divulged nonpublic details about new rules being considered to regulate for-profit educational institutions to outsiders, including Steven Eisman, former managing director of FrontPoint Partners LLC, who held short positions in the sector."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/how-henry-paulson-gave-hedge-funds-advance-word-of-2008-fannie-mae-rescue.html#dsq-comments

How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word
By Richard Teitelbaum
Bloomberg.com
Nov 29, 2011 12:46 PM ET

Huffington, Politico Ignore Insider Trading Congress

http://bigjournalism.com/jjmnolte/2011/11/18/and-now-we-pause-to-laugh-in-the-face-of-politico-and-aolhuffington/

And Now We Pause to Laugh In the Face of Politico and AOL/Huffington
Posted by John Nolte
Nov 18th 2011 at 2:06 pm
BigJournalism.com

Congressmen Enjoyed Insider Trading

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45249857

Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff
Published: Friday, 11 Nov 2011 | 10:16 AM ET
By: Eamon Javers
CNBC Washington, DC Correspondent

Soros fails to quash conviction

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/063501c2-f02e-11e0-977b-00144feab49a.html#axzz1a4YxPHy7

October 6, 2011 9:34 pm
Soros fails to quash insider trading conviction
By Sam Jones in London and Stanley Pignal in Brussels
Financial Times

Harvard Connected Lawyers Charged, Insider Trading

[From article]
"In November 2009, right after Rajaratnam's arrest, Santarles recorded his Ropes & Gray buddy Arthur Cutillo telling him to destroy a prepaid cell Santarlas used to talk to another defendant, prosecutors said.
[. . .]
Zvi Goffer, the founder of Incremental; his brother Emanuel Goffer; and his partner Michael Kimelman -- were engaged in a scheme to trade on illegal tips based on information they got from two Ropes & Gray lawyers, who have already pleaded guilty."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_enemy_within_xhkcLVdXW5EpWTPRqIJCuO

The enemy within
In Feds' next trial, traders snag pals by wearing wires
By KAJA WHITEHOUSE
New York Post
Last Updated: 1:32 AM, May 15, 2011
Posted: 12:50 AM, May 15, 2011

Prominent recent employees of Ropes and Gray.
* Mark Barnes (Partner 2001-2006) - Activist and academic, currently Chief Research Compliance Officer, Harvard University.
* Yochai Benkler (Associate, 1994-1995) - Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, Harvard Law School.
* Stephen L. Braga (Partner) - Criminal defense attorney known for his successful pro bono representation of Martin Tankleff.
* Robert C. Clark (Associate, 1972-1974) - Former Dean of the Faculty of Law (1989-2003), and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor (2003-present), Harvard University.
* Archibald Cox (Associate, 1938-1945) - U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy; first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal.
* Henry Cabot Lodge - (Associate, 1875-1880) - American statesman and 1st U.S. Senate Majority Leader.
* Roger A. Moore (Partner, retired 1990) - Former Chairman of the Board, National Review; Chief Legal Advisor, presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater; general counsel of the Republican National Committee.
* Ruth O'Brien (Partner, retired 1996) - Mother of Conan O'Brien; second female partner.
* Diane Bemus Patrick (Partner) - First Lady of Massachusetts.
* John Palfrey (Associate, 2001-2002) - Co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, vice dean for library and information resources, and a tenured professor at Harvard Law School.
* Elliot Richardson (Associate, 1949-1953, 1955-1957; Partner, 1961-1965) - Former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1970-1973); U.S. Secretary of Defense (1973); U.S. Attorney General (1973); United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1975-1976); and U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1976-1977).
* James Vorenberg (Associate, 1954-1960; Partner, 1960-1962) - Former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Harvard University (1981-1989).
* Jane Willis (Partner) - Part of the MIT Blackjack Team later fictionalized in Bringing Down the House.

Sunbathing Defense

Sun-bathing defense is information [Barry Switzer] traded on was innocently overheard while he was sun-bathing in the stands of an Oklahoma track meet.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/fed_insider_fight_61IIO1Nj8RRqetrp3YiEaK

Fed's insider fight
By MARK DeCAMBRE and KAJA WHITEHOUSE
New York Post
Last Updated: 2:46 AM, November 24, 2010
Posted: 12:04 AM, November 24, 2010

Feds Arrest Boston Attorneys


Feds arrested "Arthur Cutillo, 33, an attorney at white-shoe law firm Ropes & Gray who is accused of providing information about companies such as 3Com and Alliance Data Systems."

"According to a complaint filed by the SEC, Goffer, 32, gave one of his tipees a disposable phone so they could share information about Bain Capital's impending acquisition of 3Com. After the deal was announced, he pulled out the SIM card, bit it, broke the phone in half and disposed of the two pieces separately."

"Among the firms that allegedly had their deals leaked through Cutillo were private equity bigwigs Silver Lake, Bain Capital and TPG Capital."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/feds_bust_octopussy_insider_trader_rCMNdPbXKFdOlscUQqRntI

Feds bust 'Octopussy' insider trader-tipster
By BRUCE GOLDING and KAJA WHITEHOUSE
New York Post
Last Updated: 4:56 AM, November 6, 2009
Posted: 1:10 AM, November 6, 2009

* * *

[From Wall Street Journal]

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/06/whats-to-become-of-ropes-gray/

November 6, 2009, 12:55 PM ET
What’s to Become of Ropes & Gray?
By Ashby Jones
Wall Street Journal

* * *

[From Boston Globe]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/03/15/harvard_law_group_hits_ropes__gray/

Harvard Law group hits Ropes & Gray
By Sacha Pfeiffer,
Boston Globe Staff
March 15, 2006

"Ropes hires more Harvard graduates than any other Boston firm, according to Mark Weber, the school's assistant dean for career services, who said Ropes has a 'great pipeline coming from Harvard' and noted there is a 'Ropes Gray Room' on campus.
Of last year's graduating class of about 550, 17 of the 43 graduates hired by Boston firms went to Ropes & Gray, an 'extraordinary' rate, Weber said."