On November 6, 2009, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the indictment of Joseph Contorinis, a former Jefferies Group, Inc. hedge fund portfolio manager, on charges of conspiracy and securities fraud relating to his alleged participation in an insider trading conspiracy ring.  See United States v. Contorinis, Case No. 09 Maj 289 (S.D.N.Y., filed Nov. 5, 2009).  According to the indictment, Contorinis, who acted as managing director and portfolio manager for the Jefferies Paragon Fund, allegedly received material, nonpublic information from UBS Investment Bank investment banker Nicos Stephanou (Stephanou), regarding merger and acquisition activity that led to Contorinis making profits of about $7 million for his hedge fund.  The indictment capped a series of insider trading cases announced since the beginning of November by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  On November 5, 2009, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the indictment of fourteen other individuals for insider trading as part of a widening investigation of the alleged insider trading scheme by Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, a scheme federal law enforcement officials describe as the largest ever hedge fund-related insider trading conspiracy.  For more background on the Galleon Group insider trading case, see “Billionaire Founder of Hedge Fund Manager Galleon Group, Raj Rajaratnam, Charged in Alleged Insider Trading Conspiracy,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 2, No. 42 (Oct. 21, 2009).  We detail the allegations in the Contorinis indictment and a related action.