Another Attorney Sentenced in Insider Trading Scheme

Another Attorney Sentenced in Insider Trading Scheme
The New York Law Journal by Mark Hamblett  -  October 12, 2011

Michael Kimelman was sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years in prison today for his role in the Zvi Goffer insider trading case. Mr. Kimelman, a non-practicing attorney, "Understood better than most the illegality of this kind of conduct," Southern District Judge Richard Sullivan said in rejecting a plea for leniency by attorney Michael Sommer of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.  Mr. Kimelman, 40, was convicted on June 13 along with Zvi Goffer and Emanuel Goffer of trading on inside information stolen from Ropes & Gray by then-firm associates Arthur Cutillo and Brien Santaralas. The two lawyers, along with a third attorney, middleman Jason Goldfarb, were paid $32,500 each by Zvi Goffer for providing information on companies such as Axcan Pharma and 3Com Corp. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Fish and Richard Tarlowe.  Emanuel Goffer was sentenced on Oct. 7 to three years in prison. His brother, Zvi Goffer, was sentenced by Judge Sullivan on Sept. 21 to 10 years in prison for taking the lead role in the scheme, which was one of several overlapping insider trading cases connected to his former employee, Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam. Mr. Rajaratnam, who was convicted in May of five conspiracies and nine counts of insider trading, is expected to receive a lengthy prison term when he is sentenced this morning by Judge Richard Holwell.