As he sits at the defense table and hears the evidence mount up, Zvi Goffer must not be in the best frame of mind right now. His sleep won't be helped by testimony of trader Michael Cardillo, who in January pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in the Galleon Group case.
Cardillo, known as "Dillo", received tips from another Galleon trader, Craig "Ruby" Drimal. Drimal, who also plead guilty, in turn got the confidential information from Goffer. Cardillo testified that he was aware of phone conversations between Drimal and Goffer that took place over the "Bat Phone". a prepaid cellular phone that was untraceable. All ring members got Bat Phones, courtesy of Zvi Goffer.
Upon cross-examination, Dillo admitted he hadn't heard the contents of the conversations, and that he didn't know Goffers co-defendants Emanual Goffer and Michael Kimelman. Nontheless, Dillo owned up to talking directly with convicted ringleader Raj Rajaratnam's brother, Rengan. Rengan is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case. Dillo pointed out that Rengan was used to cover up illegal actions that took places.
Dillo actually sent out emails to other Galleon employees, such as Rengan, boosting companies he was about to trade due to confidential tips. "I sent it as a cover-up to buying the stock based on inside information," he said.
© 2011 Hedge Fund Writer LLC
