The FBI arrested and indicted Sri Lanka born U.S. hedge fund magnate Raj Rajaratnam, according to the details disclosed by the ABC news network, has given more than US $3.5 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) whose assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department in November 2007 because of its alleged ties to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers.
Rajaratnam is the single largest known U.S. contributor to a charity linked to the Tamil Tiger terror group in Sri Lanka, according to the ABCNews.com.
ABC also notes that the TRO fund coordinator Ranjithan's home was raided by the FBI in 2006 because of his ties to TRO.
Raj Rajaratnam is also known as a big donor to the Democratic Party and to Obama campaign last year.
It turns out arrested hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam -- charged in a $20 million insider trading case -- has given big to the party in power.
One of the criminal complaints accuses Rajaratnam, 52, considered the richest Sri Lankan in the world, of conspiring with Intel Capital treasury department managing director Rajiv Goel and Anil Kumar, a director of McKinsey & Co. The alleged offenses took place over three years starting in January 2006.
Early on Friday evening, a U.S. magistrate judge in New York said Rajaratnam may be released on a $100 million personal recognizance bond secured by $20 million in cash and property.
In a brief appearance, Rajaratnam sat in court with his arms folded. The judge restricted his travel to a radius of 110 miles from Manhattan and Rajaratnam, a citizen of both Sri Lanka and the United States, surrendered travel documents.
A prosecutor argued that Rajaratnam was a flight risk, but his lawyer Jim Walden said: "A court's going to learn there's a lot more to this case. There is no way that this man is going to flee."
In the meantime given below Raj Rajaratnam;s largest cumulative contributions this decade, according to data from the web site OpenSecrets:
$26,700 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
$26,200 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corp.
$11,100 to Hillary Clinton
$10,000 to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee
$4,600 to Barack Obama
$2,000 to Charles Schumer, the New York Democratic Senator
Anyway, who is Raj Rajaratnam:
US citizen residing in New York. Born in Sri Lanka, 1957.
Undergraduate degree: University of Sussex (Britain).
MBA: Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hedge-fund trader who started his career at Needham & Co., becoming its president in 1991. Founded Galleon Group in 1997.
Net worth: $1.3 billion. (World’s 559th wealthiest person, according to Forbes.)
Background: One of the most successful businessmen among a Diaspora of Tamils who left Sri Lanka to prosper overseas. After the 2004 tsunami hit Sri Lanka, he set up a local charity and urged others to contribute to rebuilding. This year he pledged gave $1 million for the reintegration in society of Tamil fighters, whose military movement was defeated in May.
Politics: Contributed to a number of Democratic campaigns, including $30,800 to Barack Obama and $4,600 to Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election.
Asian Tribune
Comments
A writer to this column says
A writer to this column says : "As long as his (Rajaratnam's) donations were prior to the date on which the TRO was proscribed in the US, his actions will not be considered as illegal contributions". We do not agree with the above statement. As far as know, a person is guilty if he KNOWINGLY contributed to past misdemeanors of an Organisation he has funded over a period of time. Rajaratnam KNEW that the TRO acted together with the LTTE. Therefore, he is guilty.
Consider this story as an example to illustrate this point :
The Police catches a thief with some goods. This thief has been thieving for a long time. Is he guilty only of the present theft ? NO. He is guilty of past thefts as well. Also, according to the Law in most countries, even people who have INNOCENTLY bought the thief's STOLEN GOODS are deemed to be guilty of participating in the crime too !
Some people are trying to whitewash the criminal activities of Rajaratnam. At the first count, Rajaratnam's funds were obtained ILLEGALLY through insider trading. In the second count, he has disbursed some of these funds to an organisation (TRO, in this case), which has engaged itself to work with a terrorist organisation, the LTTE. As we all know, the crimes of the LTTE are too numerous to be listed here.
Tamil people of low caste have taken to INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL ACTIVITY to raise funds. This fact cannot be whitewashed away, and it is an TAMIL ETHNIC ISSUE. Low caste Tamils & Tamil Dalits (Untouchables) must be educated in ethics & morality. That is the burning issue all TAMILS OF HIGHER CASTE and all the rest of us have to pick up and act on, like it or not. ACCEPT THE PROBLEM & SOLVE IT !!!
A legal technicality
"...his actions will not be considered as illegal contributions..." by the US justice system as the American justice system is not one that applies to acts performed retroactively. As to whether the media or individuals wish to pass judgment as to his guilt is absolutely their right and is to be respected.
Perhaps by donating some
Perhaps by donating some funds for IDP welfare & re-construction work in the North, Raj Rajaratnam
can put into good use some of his ill-gotten wealth, and recover a little goodwill from the Tamil community. Crime never pays. There's a good lesson here. Look for happiness within, not outside.
If the allegation in this
If the allegation in this article (that R.R. funded the LTTE), is true, why was Prez Rajapakse, according to a news report in the Sri Lanka press, expecting a huge contribution from Rajaratnam to rehabiliate LTTE cadres. This article in the Sri Lanka press suggests that now the worry in the Rajapakse Administration is that Sri Lanka now may not get the huge contribution from Rajaratnam. If there is any truth to this allegation, would Prez Rajapakse really want a huge contribution from Rajaratnam. We hope that Daya Gamage will pursue this story with gusto.
An ill placed allegation of an allegation
In all fairness to Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune and ABC network, I would like to point out that none of 'em has accused Raj Rajaratnam of funding the LTTE - but correctly pointed to the fact that he has been the single biggest US donor to the TRO, the latter at the time of Rajaratnam's donations a legitimate US Non-Profit Organization with operational facilities in Sri Lanka. As long as his donations were prior to the date on which the TRO was proscribed in the US, his actions will not be considered as illegal contributions.
Though not accusing Rajaratnam of directly funding the LTTE, Gamage while emphasizing the arrests of Rajiv Goel, Anil, Kumar and Rajaratnam (all with Tamil-like names) has overlooked to state the indictments of other Americans, Mark Kurland, Robert Moffat and Danielle Chiesi (with Western names). Let's hope this is only a memory lapse on the part of Gamage and not an attempt at skewing this developing story along prejudicial ethnic lines.
So far Raj Rajratnam has been indicted only on the crime of fraudulent trading under US law and everything else is mere speculation. His contributions to the Democratic party’s politicians are no different to contributions by millions of Americans to their favorites – it is not a crime. Irrespective of what Raj Rajaratnam has done or not done, please let's not try to misuse this event to exploit and further widen the gap between Sinhalese and Tamils - especially by influential media web sites and their reporters who claim to be progressive thinkers with decades of experience in US government. If peace in Sri Lanka is what’s genuinely dear to their hearts they should act responsibly to bring communities together and not drive them further apart.
To further clarify my point,
To further clarify my point, the headline for the above article clearly and unequivocally states: "Raj Rajaratnam simultaneously funds Sri Lanka terror group and U.S. Democratic Party." Maybe Gamage is suggesting that Rajaratnam is funding (funded?) the LTTE through the TRO. But his headline leaves nothing to the imagination. He is quite crystal clear that Rajaratnam is funding (Gamage uses the present tense to suggest that R is still funding) a terror group. And I am aware that the headlines in Asian Tribune are usually written by the writer of the article. Thus in his headline, Daya Gamage is clearly suggesting that Rajaratnam is funding a terror group and the U.S. Democratic Party. And one of the questions I raised was whether Gamage is really suggesting that Prez Rajapakse is seeking funds from an LTTE supporter. I doubt that Prez Rajapakse would have sought funds from an LTTE supporter and Gamage probably owes Prez Rajapakse an apology.
Now the cat is out the bag
I am sure that the list of donees will be longer with local politicos who swallowed the Rajaratnam's bait coming to light during investigations. Already it is well known in Sri Lanka that pro-American Minister Milinda Moragoda is one of them. Incidently the two UNPers who crossed over to government side are at logger heads over the donations assured by Rajaratnam for the welfare of IDPs. On the other hand there is nothing wrong in Sri Lanka receiveing the funds collected by the Tamil diaspora for buying arms for LTTE, for the welfare of the very people, whom Prabhakaran was trying to create a country for. But in the case of Democratic Party of USA, they have come into power with blood stained money collected by a group of terrorists, whose front organizations in the US are banned by the State Department, which is headed by Hillary Ckinton, who is also a recipient of blood stained money. The worst case is that Barrak Obama, who has recieved blood money, was awarded the coveted 2009 Nobel Price for Peace.
Is the west going mad?