AN INDIAN-ORIGIN hedge fund portfolio manager, charged with participating in one of the ‘most lucrative’ insider trading schemes ever in the US, has been released on a $5m (£3.12m) bail.
Mathew Martoma, 38, appeared in a brief hearing on Monday (November 26) before US Magistrate Judge James Cott at the Manhattan federal court.
Martoma, who was arrested last week at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, did not enter any plea and the judge set a next court hearing of December 26.
Martoma has been charged with using material, non-public information that he received from a doctor on the clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s disease drug to make profits and avoid losses for his hedge fund in an amount totalling approximately $276m.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission have also filed a civil insider trading case against him on similar charges.
A Stanford University graduate, Martoma is the son of Indian immigrants and was born Ajai Mathew Mariamdani Thomas.
He changed his name in 2003.
Under the new bail requirements, Martoma would have to post $2m in cash or property by next week.
While free on bail, his movements will be restricted within the US.
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara had last week brought the charges against Martoma, who had worked with CR Intrinsic Investors, an affiliate of SAC Capital Advisers.
SAC is owned by hedge fund titan Steven Cohen, who is among one of the richest men in the world.
Martoma is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison and a $5m fine.
