S.E.C. v. Rajaratnam
Opinion
In this civil action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Jed S. Rakoff, Judge ), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged defendant-appellant Raj Rajaratnam with insider trading conduct for which he was criminally prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice. See United States v. Rajaratnam , 09 Cr. 1184 (S.D.N.Y. Holwell, J .). After Rajaratnam's conviction following trial, the SEC moved for summary judgment in the civil case. As part of its requested relief, the SEC sought a civil penalty pursuant to Securities Exchange Act Section 21A, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-1, which permits the district *39 court to assess a penalty upon a person who engages in insider trading in an amount "not to exceed three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of such unlawful purchase, sale, or communication." Id . at (a)(2). After extensive argument regarding the appropriate amount of the penalty, the district court entered judgment against Rajaratnam, imposing a civil penalty of $92,805,705, the maximum permissible under the statute. Rajaratnam now challenges that award. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
BACKGROUND
Rajaratnam was the managing general partner and portfolio manager of Galleon Management, LP, a registered investment adviser, and its affiliated multi-billion dollar group of hedge funds (collectively, "Galleon"). In 2011, Rajaratnam was indicted in the Southern District of New York on nine counts of substantive securities fraud under Securities Act Section 17(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b), and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, based on his insider trading in the stock of five different companies, and five counts of conspiracy to commit insider trading.
On the day that Rajaratnam was arrested, the SEC filed a parallel civil complaint, also in the Southern District of New York, charging Rajaratnam with the same insider trading conduct alleged in his criminal case. Specifically, the SEC alleged, among other things, that Rajaratnam's purchases and sales of stock in certain companies on the basis of material nonpublic information violated Securities Act Section 17(a), 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5,
Subsection (a)(1) of Section 21A authorizes the SEC to bring a civil action against a person who violates the insider trading laws. Subsection (a)(2) concomitantly authorizes the district court to impose a civil penalty "on the person who committed such violation" in an amount to be determined by the district court "in light of the facts and circumstances," but stipulates that such penalty "shall not exceed three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of such unlawful purchase, sale, or communication." The SEC's case before Judge Rakoff proceeded on a track parallel to the criminal case, before then-Judge Holwell.
After an eight-week trial in the criminal case, a jury found Rajaratnam guilty on all counts charged.
1
Specifically, Rajaratnam was found to have executed trades in Galleon's accounts and in the account of Rajiv Goel ("Goel"), an Intel executive who had provided tips to Rajaratnam, in the stock of five companies on the basis of inside information. The district court sentenced Rajaratnam to 132 months' imprisonment and to a $10 million criminal fine. In a separate proceeding, before Judge Preska, the district court calculated Rajaratnam's forfeiture under
*40 After Rajaratnam's conviction, the SEC moved for partial summary judgment in the civil case on its claims of insider trading in the same five stocks that formed the factual basis for Rajaratnam's criminal conviction. 2 Rajaratnam conceded that his criminal conviction for insider trading in these five stocks collaterally estopped him from contesting liability. Rajaratnam did not oppose entry of a permanent injunction prohibiting him from further violating the securities laws' antifraud provisions. The SEC agreed that its demand for $31.6 million in disgorgement was moot in light of the $53.8 million forfeiture order. Thus, the only issues in dispute on summary judgment were the need for, and the amount of, the civil penalty.
The SEC sought the maximum treble penalty available under the statute. It argued that such a penalty was warranted because Rajaratnam orchestrated a multi-year campaign of insider trading, corrupted numerous corporate insiders, and had taken highly deliberate steps to evade detection. The SEC emphasized that the high-profile nature of this case would afford the district court "a truly unique opportunity to send as strong a message as possible to the investment community, and indeed the world, that insider trading and corruption in connection with this nation's capital markets will not be tolerated." App. at 163.
In response, Rajaratnam argued that no civil penalty at all was warranted because of the punishment already meted out in his criminal case: 11 years' imprisonment, the longest prison term ever imposed for insider trading, a criminal fine of $10 million, and a $53.8 million order of forfeiture. In the event that the district court did impose a civil penalty, Rajaratnam argued that the penalty should be calculated by reference only to the profits Rajaratnam personally received as a result of the conduct at issue. Those profits, approximately $4.7 million, came from Rajaratnam's share of his management fees and returns on his personal investment in Galleon's funds.
After hearing oral argument, the district court issued a written decision on the issue of Rajaratnam's civil penalty. First, the district court accepted Rajaratnam's calculation that the total profit gained and loss avoided by the illegal trades he executed in Galleon's and Goel's accounts on the basis of inside information was $30,935,235. 3 The district court then trebled this number to impose a civil penalty of $92,805,705.
The district court concluded that the Section 21A(a)(2) penalty of "three times the profit gained or loss avoided" was not limited to Rajaratnam's personal gains (of around $4.7 million) but, rather, extended to the amount resulting from the "illegal trades [Rajaratnam] executed."
SEC v. Rajaratnam
,
The district court then decided that imposing a civil penalty of three times the base amount of profit gained and loss avoided was warranted because "this case meets every factor favoring trebling": Rajaratnam's violations were egregious; he acted with a high degree of scienter; his conduct created substantial losses to investors; his conduct continued for years; and he had the ability to pay a substantial penalty.
The district court acknowledged that Rajaratnam had already been punished in the criminal case, and noted that penalties imposed on a defendant in a "parallel criminal action may ... be relevant" to the size of the civil penalty. Id . But the district court found that the maximum civil penalty was warranted despite Rajaratnam's criminal sentence because the focus of criminal punishment is on moral blameworthiness, by contrast to SEC civil penalties, which are designed to effect general deterrence and to make insider trading a money-losing proposition.
Rajaratnam timely appealed from the district court's final judgment.
DISCUSSION
Rajaratnam raises two arguments on appeal. First, he argues that the civil penalty for insider trading under Section 21A may not exceed three times his own profit gained or loss avoided. Second, he argues that the district court abused its discretion in imposing the maximum penalty under the statute, because it improperly relied on his wealth to justify the penalty, and failed to consider the criminal penalties already imposed on him.
We review the district court's ruling on the former question, a matter of statutory interpretation,
de novo
.
See
Ehrenfeld v. Mahfouz
,
I. The Section 21A Treble Damages Provision
The district court calculated the base amount of Rajaratnam's civil penalty by using Rajaratnam's calculation of the "profit gained or loss avoided" as a result of the illegal trades he executed, even though the pecuniary gain from those trades went mostly to Galleon's and Goel's accounts. Rajaratnam argues that the district court erred because the maximum penalty under Section 21A is "three times the profit gained or loss avoided" by the defendant , and that the penalty should therefore be calculated with reference only to the $4.7 million he personally realized from his management fees, bonuses, and investment returns from Galleon. Rajaratnam claims that the statute's text, structure, *42 legislative history, and purpose support his contention. 4 We disagree.
Section 21A permits the SEC to bring an action against Rajaratnam, as "the person who committed" a violation by "purchasing or selling" securities on the basis of inside information. Id . at (a)(1). Subsection (a)(2) provides that:
The amount of the penalty which may be imposed on the person who committed such violation shall be determined by the court in light of the facts and circumstances, but shall not exceed three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of such unlawful purchase, sale, or communication.
Id . at (a)(2).
Rajaratnam argues that because subsection (a)(2) does not identify who must gain profit or avoid losses, the civil penalty calculation must be limited to the violator's personal profit.
5
But a plain reading of
*43
subsection (a)(2) indicates that it permits a civil penalty to be based on the total profit resulting from the violation.
See
SEC v. Rosenthal
,
Our interpretation of the statute is confirmed by the fact that elsewhere in the federal securities laws Congress expressly limited the "amount of the penalty" for particular violations to the "gross amount of pecuniary gain
to such defendant
as a result of the violation."
See, e.g.,
Securities Act Section 20(d)(2), 15 U.S.C. §§ 77t(d)(2)(A), (B), (C) ; Exchange Act Section 21(d), 15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(d)(3)(B)(I), (ii), (iii) ; Investment Company Act of 1940 Section 42(e), 15 U.S.C. §§ 80a-41(e)(2)(A), (B), (C) ; Investment Advisers Act of 1940 Section 209(e), 15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-9(e)(2)(A), (B), (C) (emphasis added). Rajaratnam's reading of Section 21A(a)(2) thus contravenes the rule that "[w]here Congress includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acted intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion and exclusion."
Russello v. United States
,
Nor can Rajaratnam's interpretation of Section 21A be reconciled with how the statute treats tippers who do not themselves trade or otherwise receive pecuniary gain for their tips. Subsection (a)(1) makes tippers who unlawfully communicate inside information "violat[ors]" eligible for a civil penalty. Subsection (a)(2) then provides for the imposition of a civil penalty on "the person who committed such violation" (including the tipper who does not himself trade) in an amount up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided "as a result of such unlawful purchase, sale, or
communication
."
Id
. (emphasis added). The only possible "profit gained or loss avoided" by a "communication" of inside information by a non-trading tipper would result from the trading of the tipper's tippee(s). Accordingly, subsection (a)(2) necessarily permits a violator's civil penalty to be calculated based on the third parties' profit gained or loss avoided, i.e., the profits gained or loss avoided from the defendant's
violation
.
6
See, e.g.,
SEC v. Warde
,
*44
Further, we are unpersuaded by Rajaratnam's argument that the deterrence purpose of Section 21A is served only if the base amount of the penalty is the amount of profit earned by the defendant. As we explained in
SEC v. Contorinis
,
II. The District Court's Discretion in Setting the Penalty
Rajaratnam next argues that, whatever the statutory maximum, the district court abused its discretion in setting the amount of the penalty because the district court impermissibly relied on the defendant's wealth and refused to consider the deterrent effect of the criminal penalties already imposed on him. We reject those arguments, which distort the district court's actual reasoning.
Section 21A(a)(2) authorizes federal courts to impose civil penalties for insider trading violations in amounts "determined by the court in light of the facts and circumstances." The district court noted that this was a broad mandate, and cited the factors from
SEC v. Haligiannis
,
A. The District Court's Consideration of Rajaratnam's Wealth
Rajaratnam claims that the district court impermissibly justified its imposition of a massive penalty on the basis of Rajaratnam's wealth. He maintains that only one of the Haligiannis factors touches on the defendant's wealth, and that factor provides only for mitigation, not aggravation. He argues that these factors allow no room for the use of a defendant's financial status to increase the penalty imposed on him.
While the
Haligiannis
factors have been considered in several cases,
see
SEC v. Gupta
,
We thus have no hesitation in concluding that, in calculating the size of a penalty necessary to deter misconduct, the extent of a defendant's wealth is a relevant consideration. A fine that would be significantly painful to a person of modest means might be a mere slap on the wrist or "cost of doing business" to a wealthier offender. Rajaratnam contends, however, that the district court's use of this factor was motivated by a bare desire to strip Rajaratnam of his wealth, much of which, it is undisputed, was earned legitimately. We do not question that a vindictive bias against or hostility towards persons of means would be an inappropriate consideration in setting a penalty for securities fraud. But the suggestion that the district court here was so motivated distorts the record, and ignores the court's careful and thoughtful analysis of the factors bearing on the appropriate penalty.
Rajaratnam points to the district court's statement that "this case cries out for the kind of civil penalty that will deprive this defendant of a material part of his fortune."
Rajaratnam
,
B. The District Court's Consideration of Rajaratnam's Criminal Penalties
Rajaratnam also asserts that the district court improperly refused to take any account of the other penalties to which he had already been subjected. But again the record reflects otherwise. The district court explicitly noted that Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in prison, was ordered to forfeit $53.8 million, and was fined an additional $10 million in criminal penalties. It went on to recognize that the penalties in a "parallel criminal action may ... be relevant" in determining whether to impose a civil penalty.
Rajaratnam
,
That the district court did not ultimately offset the amount of the civil penalty against the extent of Rajaratnam's criminal punishment does not mean that the district court did not consider those punishments, still less that it abused its discretion. Section 21A provides that a civil action brought by the SEC for a civil penalty "may be brought
in addition
to any other actions that the Commission or the Attorney General are entitled to bring." Section 21A(d)(3) (titled "Remedy not exclusive") (emphasis added). Thus, Congress expressly anticipated that at least some insider traders would face both criminal and civil penalties.
See
Gupta
,
Rajaratnam points to cases in which district courts refrained from ordering the *47 maximum civil penalty based, in part, on the fact that separate criminal penalties had been imposed as a result of the defendant's conduct. But Section 21A tasks district courts with imposing a penalty "in light of the facts and circumstances" of each defendant's particular case. In some circumstances it may be appropriate to offset the penalty by a defendant's criminal punishment; in others, not. Given the district court's latitude under the statute, and its conclusions about Rajaratnam's conduct, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in imposing the maximum civil penalty on Rajaratnam even though he had already received a significant criminal sentence.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the order of the district court.
This Court subsequently affirmed Rajaratnam's conviction.
United States v. Rajaratnam
,
The SEC advised the district court that it would not proceed to trial to prove insider trading in any stocks that were not the subject of Rajaratnam's substantive securities fraud convictions.
Rajaratnam's $53.8 million criminal forfeiture was based on the "profits (or losses avoided) in Galleon" accounts "as a result of" all of the offenses Rajaratnam was charged with in the criminal case-both the substantive and conspiracy violations. Supp. App. at 303-04. The calculation differed for Rajaratnam's civil case because the SEC moved for partial summary judgment on only the substantive counts of insider trading.
The SEC argues that Rajaratnam waived this argument by failing to raise it before the district court. Whether or not Rajaratnam adequately raised the issue before the district court, it is properly before us because the district court expressly decided the question of whether "the SEC's figure should be reduced to the amount [Rajaratnam] personally gained."
Rajaratnam
,
Rajaratnam points us to
United States v. Contorinis
,
In
Contorinis
, we interpreted the forfeiture statute in light of the meaning of the word "forfeiture."
In any event, Rajaratnam's case has already been distinguished from
Contorinis
on its facts.
See
Rajaratnam v. United States
,
Rajaratnam was the founder and managing general partner of Galleon and, as such, exercised control over both that firm and the proceeds it acquired, including the proceeds acquired as a result of his insider trading. Even if those proceeds subsequently were distributed to investors, with Rajaratnam personally retaining only a percentage as management fees, he nonetheless had authority over disbursements, and, thus, exercised control over the proceeds at some point.
Id
. at 283-84 (quoting
Contorinis
,
Thus, even in the context of forfeiture itself, Contorinis did not control this case. Still less does it have any application to the civil penalty at issue here.
The legislative history confirms that Section 21A was "intended to permit penalties to be imposed upon both insider traders and tippers." H.R. Rep. 100-910, at *18-*20. Congress noted that, like the "purchase or sale of securities" on the basis of inside information, the "communication of [ ] advance inside knowledge to others who trade while in possession of that information similarly poses serious problems for the fair and honest operation of our securities markets." Id . at *8.
Whereas
United States v. Contorinis
,
see
infra
note 5, held that a criminal defendant could not be ordered to forfeit profits he never had,
SEC v. Contorinis
, regarding the same defendant, distinguished between the purposes of criminal forfeiture and civil disgorgement, and held that "an insider trader who trades on behalf of another person or entity using funds he does not own, and thus produces illegal profits that he does not personally realize, can nevertheless be required to disgorge the full amount of the illicit profit he generates from his illegal and fraudulent actions,"
Rajaratnam also emphasizes a reference by the district judge, at oral argument, to a statement of former SEC Chairman Richard Breeden "who, on the subject of insider trading, said he wanted to leave the insider traders something like worthless, homeless, and maybe clothesless." App. at 327. But this reference too is taken out of context. Judges at oral argument frequently put forward ideas or comment to elicit the views of counsel for the parties. The Breeden quotation does not figure in the district court's written explanation of its reasoning for selecting a penalty. Thus, we understand the court's reference to Breeden's comment as the expression of a strong view that, in the end, the court did not adopt. That the judge expressed concern with whether Rajaratnam would actually be able to pay, or the SEC to collect, whatever penalty would be imposed makes clear that he was not looking to impose a fine that would meet or exceed Rajaratnam's resources and leave him penniless. Finally, the court's review of the Pre-Sentence Report made clear that the penalty imposed would have no such effect, and that even after paying the fine, Rajaratnam and his family would still possess significant wealth.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raj RAJARATNAM, Defendant-Appellant, Galleon Management, LP, Ali Hariri, Rajiv Goel, Anil Kumar, Danielle Cheisi, Mark Kurland, Robert Moffat, New Castle Funds LLC, Roomy Khan, Deep Shah, Ali T. Far, Choo-Beng Lee, Far & Lee LLC, Spherix Capital LLC, Zvi Goffer, David Plate, Gautham Shankar, Schottenfield Group LLC, Steven Fortuna, S2 Capital Management, LP, Defendants.
- Cited By
- 32 cases
- Status
- Published