Atheros exec linked to Galleon insider trading case

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Atheros Communications Inc executive Ali Hariri appeared in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday after prosecutors linked him to the largest hedge fund insider trading scandal in U.S. history. Hariri, who made his initial court appearance in jeans and a turtleneck sweater, was named as a defendant in two federal cases centered on alleged insider trading linked to the Galleon Group hedge fund and its founder, Raj Rajaratnam. A bail review was set for later on Thursday for Hariri, who is expected to be arraigned on conspiracy and fraud charges in New York after removal proceedings, unless he waives them. He would not respond to reporters' questions after the brief hearing. U.S. prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have since Oct. 16 implicated hedge fund firms, traders, lawyers, a credit analyst and others for trying to profit illegally from trading in companies such as Google Inc , Hilton Hotels Corp and Intel Corp . Hariri was one of more than a dozen new defendants named in the cases on Thursday. He is accused of passing material, nonpublic information about Atheros to California hedge fund manager Ali Far, who then bought shares of the wireless networking company in 2008 and early 2009, according to an SEC complaint. In exchange, Far advised Hariri to buy or sell stocks of other companies based on insider information that Far had obtained, the SEC complaint showed. Hariri served as vice president of Atheros' broadband carrier networking business unit during the alleged insider trades, court documents showed. Atheros had no immediate comment. Far, founder of the Spherix hedge fund, has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and has agreed to cooperate with the government, prosecutors said. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; writing by Gina Keating in Los Angeles; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: INSIDERTRADING/HARIRI ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging; [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.