Winifred Jiau is in jail, and will stay there for the time being. She is accused of passing along confidential information in the Justice Department’s continuing insider-trading inquiry. But her bail was revoked when she was found by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with bags packed, $20,000 in cash, in a running car at her digs in California.
She was initially granted, but failed to come up with, $500,000 bail. Bail was subsequently revoked when she was discovered plotting to leave the jurisdiction for her native Taiwan, where she is a dual citizen. It seems that she and a former lover were exchanging coded messages regarding fleeing the country – messages that were intercepted and decoded.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff held a bail hearing for Jiau and said that he was “unlikely” to grant bail to a person who was “a substantial flight risk”.
The Justice Department has accused Jiau of giving inside tips about two companies to the former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, Noah Freeman, and to another hedge fund employee. She pleaded not guilty in February to the charges. Jiau had been a consultant at Primary Global Research, an expert-network firm.
© 2011 Hedge Fund Writer LLC
