US insider trading case widened

Raj Rajaratnam (centre) has a bail hearing later

A further 14 individuals have been charged in connection with the alleged $20m (£12m) insider trading scheme at US hedge fund Galleon Group.

The development comes three weeks after Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others were arrested.

Mr Rajaratnam and his co-defendants are alleged to have gained $20m in illegal profits thanks to inside information on firms including Google and AMD.

A court hearing on Thursday maintained Mr Rajaratnam's bail at $100m.

When sophisticated business people begin to adopt the methods of common criminals, we have no choice but to treat them as such Federal prosecutor Preet Bharara

The Sri Lankan-born hedge fund boss - who denies any wrongdoing - is estimated to be worth $1.3bn.

Galleon Group, which has up to $7bn in assets under its management, said last month that it intends to "cooperate fully with relevant authorities".

The case is the largest ever prosecution against a hedge fund.

Among the 14 people charged on Thursday is Zvi Goffer, manager of New York-based trading firm Incremental Capital.

Prosecutors allege that some of them dropped off bags full of cash, used prepaid mobile phones to avoid police detection, and adopted nicknames such as "the Greek".

"When sophisticated business people begin to adopt the methods of common criminals, we have no choice but to treat them as such," said federal prosecutor Preet Bharara.