41-year-old faces 20 yrs in US prison for insider trading
Bhagat said in the post that he writes “universal stories about everyday issues”.
“This could be a misunderstanding and am sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher’s legal team will be taking appropriate steps. My readers’ trust is most valuable to me and I will never, ever compromise that,” Bhagat added.
However, Bajpai said she gave Bhagat the book to review in 2014, when they met at the Bengaluru Lit Fest. Bajpai has claimed that Bhagat’s book is based on a short story titled Drawing Parallels from her book.
Bajpai, a researcher and technology constultant for start-ups, said the decision to send a legal notice was a difficult one. “Writing is not my primary source of employment and I was wondering if it would be worth my while to get involved in legal matters,” she said.
A 41-year-old Indian citizen has been arrested on charges of insider trading and making thousands of dollars using confidential information of a private equity firm’s acquisition of a technology company.
Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy, who lives in New Jersey, served as a vice-president and risk management specialist for a Manhattan-based investment bank from 2015 till this month. He is charged with one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million.
Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon Kim said Krishnamoorthy made approximately $48,000 in illicit profits through the insider trading scheme.
“He allegedly exploited his access to information about a pending acquisition to purchase stock and options, making tens of thousands of dollars in illegal profit for himself.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil complaint alleging that the accused learned that Golden Gate Capital planned to acquire publicly traded advertising technology company Neustar Inc.
He then began trading in Neustar securities.
The trading took place in two brokerage accounts that Krishnamoorthy allegedly kept hidden from his employer, which had been approached by Golden Gate Capital to finance the transaction.
Krishnamoorthy was presented in Manhattan federal court before US Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox on Tuesday.
Kim said Krishnamoorthy has been charged with violating his duty to his company and trading on insider information.
“He allegedly exploited his access to information about a pending acquisition to purchase stock and options, making tens of thousands of dollars in illegal profit for himself,” the attorney said.
The insider trading case is among the first brought by Kim, who succeeded Preet Bharara, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor after he was fired by the Trump administration.
Bharara had successfully prosecuted several high-profile insider trading cases, including those against India-born Rajat Gupta and his business associate Raj Rajaratnam.