7 Ways Hedge Funds Lie, Cheat and Steal

The billionaire head of the Galleon hedge fund was found guilty of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy, but he's not just an isolated "bad apple."

May 11, 2011 | The verdict is in: Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire head of the Galleon hedge fund, was found guilty of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy on Wednesday: 5 counts of conspiracy, and 9 counts of insider trading – which means he could be joining Bernie Madoff in prison for the rest of his life. The prosecution, which played 43 secretly recorded conversations that revealed how insider information was sought, received and covered-up, provides the clearest view to date of how far billionaires will go to earn their riches.

Which raises an even more perplexing question: Why would a billionaire go out of his way to break the law in order to make “only” a few million more? ($63 million to be exact, which is less than 5 percent of his net worth.)