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Walter Shimoon, Mark Anthony Longoria, James Fleishman and Manosha Karunatilaka Arrested on Insider Trading Charges

17.12.2010 -

Four people connected to an "expert network" firm were arrested and charged in a widening probe of insider trading at hedge funds on Thursday.
A list of some of the people involved is below.

Walter Shimoon
Shimoon was a senior director of business development at Flextronics International, and is accused of providing confidential information to a hedge fund about Flextronics and Apple according to the complaint on Thursday. Shimoon was arrested on Thursday.

Mark Anthony "Tony" Longoria
Longoria, a Round Rock, Texas-based supply chain manager for Advanced Micro Devices, is accused of providing confidential details about revenue and sales to a hedge fund. Longoria was arrested on Thursday.

Manosha Karunatilaka
Karunatilaka, a manager at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company North America in Burlington, Mass., is accused of having a conversation with a technology analyst at a financial firm in which he provided material nonpublic information about his company and its customers. Karunatilaka was also a consultant for expert network firm Primary Global Research, and his role included forecasting, planning, sales and marketing, according to a Primary Global document. He was arrested on Thursday.

James Fleishman
Fleishman, 41, of Santa Clara, Calif., was described in the complaint as a sales manager responsible for attracting new clients to Primary Global Research. The complaint charges him with arranging for hedge funds to speak to consultants, knowing the consultants would provide improper confidential information to the funds. He was arrested on Thursday.

Daniel DeVore
DeVore, a global supply manager at Dell Computer, is cooperating with the probe. He has pleaded guilty to securities fraud in connection with his work as an "expert network" consultant for Primary Global Research, Guidepoint Global and Vista, according to court papers.

Don Ching Trang Chu
Chu, an executive at California research firm Primary Global Research, was arrested last month on charges that he introduced hedge funds to executives who gave them insider trading information. Primary Global said it has cut ties with Chu. Chu, who worked as a Taiwan Liaison at Primary Global was also named in the complaint on Thursday.

Richard Choo-Beng Lee
Lee pleaded guilty last year in the insider-trading prosecution of Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and 22 other traders. Lee, who once worked for hedge fund SAC Capital, was identified as a cooperating witness in the complaint on Thursday as well as the complaint against Chu.

Dr. Yves Benhamou
Benhamou, a French infectious disease specialist, was arrested in November on charges of passing illegal tips about negative results in an experimental Human Genome Sciences drug trial to FrontPoint, a hedge fund owned by Morgan Stanley. Benhamou's bail was set at $3 million. FrontPoint, after facing big redemptions, elected to shut down the healthcare funds linked to the scandal. Benhamou does not appear to be linked to the arrests on Thursday, but was affiliated with an expert network as well.