One of the alleged tipsters in the Galleon hedge fund insider trading case could plead guilty as soon as Thursday, CNBC has learned, potentially becoming a key witness in the sweeping federal investigation.
Former McKinsey and Company partner Anil Kumar, charged in October with providing inside information to Galleon co-founder Raj Rajaratnam among others, last week waived his right to an indictment, normally a signal that a defendant has worked out a plea agreement with prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin has scheduled a "plea proceeding" in the case for Thursday afternoon in New York. Kumar is currently free on $5 million bond.
The news of Kumar's expected plea comes a day after prosecutors announced plans to file a new indictment against Rajaratnam, after uncovering what they claim is evidence he netted more than twice the proceeds they originally alleged from the insider trading scheme.
In a filing late Tuesday arguing that Rajaratnam's bail should be kept at $100 million, prosecutors said that in addition to the $17 million in alleged ill-gotten gains, Rajaratnam collected another $19 million by trading ahead of the 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies by Advanced Micro Devices .
It was not immediately clear if the new evidence came from Kumar or from one of several other individuals who are cooperating with prosecutors.
Rajaratnam, who was charged in October and indicted by a federal grand jury last month, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, John Dowd, denies his client traded illegally in the ATI deal, noting in a statement that analysts had been speculating about the acquisition for months.
Dowd has asked that his client's bail be reduced; a hearing on that issue, originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed until Tuesday.