NEW YORK — Criminal charges have been filed against 14 people, including attorneys and Wall Street professionals, in a widening $53 million insider trading case that has already snared one of the richest men in America, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The actions raise to 20 the number of people who have been charged in the case that was first disclosed last month with the arrests of Galleon Group founder and hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and five others.
At the time, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the first arrests “a wakeup call for Wall Street.”
“Today the alarm bells have only grown louder,” he said at a news conference Thursday.
Bharara said that total profits alleged by prosecutors was $40 million while the Securities and Exchange Commission raised the total to $53 million, saying it includes millions in profits not described in the criminal complaints.
He said he knew people would ask if the insider trading case was the tip of the iceberg of illicit trading on Wall Street.
“We don’t have an answer to that but we aim to find out,” he said.
He said eight people were arrested Thursday on securities fraud charges and another five have already pleaded guilty and are cooperating.
Another person is still at large, he said.
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