By RICHARD ESPOSITO, KRISTIN JONES, ANNA SCHECTER and BRIAN ROSS (@brianross)

Oct. 16, 2009

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ [ Submitted by hela puwath: Worth reading again. – Go to the link below if you have tips, ideas for the ABC News Investigative Team – Be Serious!.

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ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The New York hedge fund billionaire indicted today in an alleged $20 million insider trading scheme, Raj Rajaratnam, was a major contributor to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and also the single largest known U.S. contributor to a charity linked to the Tamil Tiger terror group in Sri Lanka, according to records obtained by ABCNews.com.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rajaratnam is accused of operating an elaborate insider trading operation through his Galleon Group hedge fund, which made him one of the wealthiest men in America with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The case against Rajaratnam and the five others indicted alleges they netted over $25 million in profits and marked the first time a court authorized wire taps were used in a hedge fund case.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A Sri Lankan native, Rajaratnam gave more than $3.5 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), whose assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department in Nov. 2007 because of its alleged ties to the Tamil Tigers.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to documents filed with the IRS, Rajaratnam’s contributions to the TRO were made in 2005 and 2006 through a separate charity, which he founded in the wake of the tsunami which hit Sri Lanka in Dec. 2004.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Despite its stated relief efforts, the Treasury Department described the TRO charity as “a front” for Tamil Tigers fundraising and procurement in the United States.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TRO passed off its operation as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism,” said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control at the time.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nagaratnam Ranjithan, the President of the U.S. branch of TRO, told ABC News in 2008 that his organization has nothing to do with terrorism: “I think we got into trouble because we did so much work after the tsunami, and the Sri Lankan government was not all appreciative of it. The people are suffering because we have a few people who told us to stop.”

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ranjithan’s home was raided by the FBI in 2006 because of his ties to TRO.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York Preet Bharara called the hedge fund insider trading case brought by his office today, “the largest hedge fund insider trading case ever charged.”

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Paraphrasing Gordon Gecko, the fictional character from the 1987 film “Wall Street” by director Oliver Stone, Bharara said, “greed, sometimes, is not good.”

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Reader Comment:

Oct 19, 2009 Wow, ABC has opened a can of worms here. This is the kind of investigative journalism we need. IMHO, Obama personally is trying to do a good job. Looks like Hilary on the other hand is playing negative politics and favoritism towards lobbyist (a terrorist Lobbying group if I understood correctly) using her position of power. If something is not done soon, Hilary might damage the Obama administrations good reputation in US and around the world.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Editor’s Note: Kristin Jones contributed to this story as a freelance journalist and now works for the non-profit investigative journalism organization, the Center for Public Integrity.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ABC News Tip Line

Do You Have an Idea for the ABC News Investigative Team?We’re always looking for new stories. Use this space if you have inside knowledge of a story you think we should investigate.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/BrianRoss/page?id=3247430

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We won’t be able to take on every project, but we will read every message!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Please include in the form below a way that we may contact you to follow up on your suggestion.