* Rajiv Goel is 9th guilty plea in overall prosecution
* Goel left Intel Capital in December 2009
* Admits receiving undisclosed sums from Rajaratnam
(Adds Intel declines comment)
By Grant McCool
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - A former Intel Capital director
pleaded guilty on Monday to fraud in the Galleon insider
trading case, telling a New York court that hedge fund founder
Raj Rajaratnam gave him money for personal needs and that he
profited from illegal trades.
Rajiv Goel, who was arrested in San Jose, California, last
Oct. 16, said he conspired with his longtime friend Rajaratnam
in 2007 on confidential information about Intel Corp quarterly
earnings and on investments by Intel in Clearwire Corp in
2008.
Intel Capital is the venture capital arm of Intel Corp.
Goel, a former director in the treasury group, left in
December, the company said last month. Intel spokesman Chuck
Molloy declined to comment Goel's plea.
Goel is the ninth to plead guilty among 21 individuals
facing criminal or civil charges in the probe that shook Wall
Street and Silicon Valley and marked new ground in white collar
crime with investigators' use of wiretaps to gather evidence.
"Although we lived very different lives, we kept in close
contact and I received money from him for personal financial
needs," Goel told Manhattan federal court Judge Alvin
Hellerstein. "Over a number of years, he made trades that made
me profits."
The case has drawn wide attention because it included
allegations against a well-known hedge fund figure in Sri
Lankan-born Rajaratnam and employees of some of America's
best-known companies, including International Business Machines
Corp and McKinsey & Co management consultants.
Goel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities
fraud and securities fraud. U.S. prosecutors said Goel, 51, is
cooperating with their investigation.
A representative for Rajaratman's lawyer declined to
comment on Goel's statement in court.
"I know it was wrong to give Raj Rajaratnam the
information. I gave it to him because of my friendship," said
Goel, who met the Galleon founder about 25 years ago at the
Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania.
The charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. A
sentencing proceeding was scheduled for May 28.
In the broader Galleon probe, U.S. prosecutors accused
stock traders, lawyers, fund managers and executives of trading
on tips about forthcoming mergers and acquisitions, mostly in
tech stocks.
Rajaratnam and an accused New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund
employee, Danielle Chiesi, have pleaded not guilty to an
indictment on conspiracy to commit securities fraud and
securities fraud charges.
Seven other people were arrested last Nov. 5. Some of them
had previously been employed at Galleon but were working at
different trading companies when they were charged. All pleaded
not guilty to indictments on similar charges. At least two
other accused are in discussions with U.S. prosecutors on
resolving their cases.
The case is USA v Raj Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184.
(Reporting by Grant McCool, additional reporting Ian Sherr;
editing by Andre Grenon, Gary Hill)
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