21 November 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova

This week in your classes - Raj Rajaratnam jailed for 11 years for insider trading. The famous money scandal turns into a topic in your classes

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAYAnwWsfQ

Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire described by the government as "the modern face of illegal insider trading" was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison, the longest insider trading sentence ever.

A former hedge-fund manager has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for one of the biggest insider trading cases in American history.  Raj Rajaratnam, 54, was fined $10m (£6.4m).  The Galleon Group founder made well over $50m from illegal trades.  Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam was convicted of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy charges in May after a two-month trial.

District Judge Richard Holwell disclosed that Rajaratnam has advanced diabetes and needs a kidney transplant, and that this had been taken into consideration in the sentencing.  The judge also praised Rajaratnam's philanthropy for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan and the 9/11 attacks.

Learn more about this case and practice some interesting vocabulary in your class.

15

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