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This article was first published 13 years ago

Former beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Last updated on: July 21, 2011 17:54 IST

Image: Danielle Chiesi arrives at the Federal Courthouse for sentencing on July 20, 2011.
Photographs: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters.
Former beauty queen Danielle Chiesi will now be behind the bars.

Chiesi was sentenced to 30 months in prison for her involvement in the largest hedge fund insider trading case in the United States.

She was held guilty on three counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

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Beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Image: Chiesi is a principal defendant in the Galleon hedge fund insider trading investigation.
Photographs: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chiesi used her contacts at International Business Machines (IBM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and other companies to get inside tips while she was working as a consultant to hedge-fund firm New Castle Funds.

Beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Image: Mark Kurland was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
Photographs: Chip East/Reuters.
She shared the information with Mark Kurland, her former boss and lover, at New Castle Funds. Kurland was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

She also shared the information with other portfolio managers, including Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, said prosecutors.

Rajaratanam, 54, founder of the Galleon Group, faces a jail sentence of up to 25 years. A total of 21 people have pleaded guilty in this insider trading case.

Beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Image: Chiesi is charged with conspiracy and securities fraud.
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters.
Chiesi has also been ordered to do 250 hours of community service and pay a $25,000 penalty.

"I know that there's a punishment for persons who do wrong, but it won't happen again," Chiesi said.

Beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Image: Chiesi departing from the federal court in New York on Feb 17, 2010.
Photographs: Chip East/Reuters.
Rajaratanam was convicted on fraud and conspiracy after a jury heard secretly tapped telephone conversations of him with Chiesi.

Beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Image: Former beauty queen Chiesi is charged in the Galleon Group hedge-fund insider trading case.
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters.
Chiesi's lawyers said she was forced by Mark Kurland to elicit information from executives at reputed companies.