WNYC News – Since last year, wiretaps have helped the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtain 24 arrests and 14 guilty pleas in insider trading cases. Last month, a judge ruled recorded phone calls may be admitted as evidence in one of the planned trials, a decision that is sure to be challenged by defense lawyers. They say that with emails, trading records and other documents available as evidence, the Feds have no reason to listen in on people’s phone calls.
When the FBI tapped Don Chu’s line on July 14 last year, they heard him discussing earnings figures for a technology firm in Silicon Valley. They said they heard Chu, a research consultant for hedge funds, give the earnings information about the tech company to a hedge fund client, seven days before the tech company publicly released the information, giving the hedge fund a week to trade the stock based on information others didn’t yet have.
