Raj Rajarathnam’s Bail
Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam looked unusually charming in person. Surrounded by a troupe of lawyers inside the magisterial courtroom in Manhattan’s Second District Courthouse, he was calm, unflappable and dressed in a uniform black. A newspaper sketch artist hovered around him like a fly, closely studying his sideburns for exact representation in pastels.
The court room was packed in respect for the large sums of money — $100 million, $2.5 million etc.–under discussion. Nothing like white-collar crime to attract the media in New York. I left my cell phone and camera at the office and rode up to the court from the clerks office with a PR rep for Raj. He had a whole retinue of lawyers, media reps and hangers-on.
The Galleon founder was asking the judge to reduce bail. Words flew in measured tones as the defense adopted a submissive stance. The white-haired lawyer John Dowd seemed like he didn’t have a good response to give to the question: why reduce the bail to $25 million?
The obvious answer is that it’s just too much. $100 million dollars. I wonder at which million our comprehension of the extent of that sum breaks down. But this argument lacks logic. Dowd struggled to give a better one. It seems that Rajaratnam had only scrounged up $2.5 million in cash, and paid the rest in securities and property.
The prosecution (comprising 3 from the DA’s office and one FBI agent) was confident in its arguments. They revealed new evidence saying that they had found a senstive IM transmitting information about Polycom (a California based tech company) between Raj and an accomplice. The IM said: “don’t proceed on PLCM until I give further guidance.”
At the end of the hearing, the judge refused to reduce the bail but allowed Raj travel privileges within the United States. Everyone got up and the courtroom cleared to judge once again, stories of more normal and less expensive criminal behavior.
I traveled back down in an elevator filled with chatty Raj hangers-on who quickly shushed themselves upon my arrival.
