Rajiv Goel, a former Intel executive and colleague of defendant Raj Rajaratnam, was on the witness stand Monday - his 4th day.  Mr. Rajaratnam stands accused of earning $45 million by trading on illegal stock tips.  According to court papers filed on Monday, Mr. Goel told federal agents that he saw Mr. Rajaratnam's brother remove notebooks from the fund’s offices on the day of Mr. Rajaratnam’s arrest.  Mr. Goel had pleaded guilty to passing confidential information about Intel’s financial data and business strategy to Mr. Rajaratnam.  

    Cross-Examination by Defense.   Terence Lynam, Mr. Rajaratnam’s lawyer, crossed Mr. Goel, focusing on whether that confidential information was material to a stock investor, and therefore was insider trading under the securities laws.  It's a theme that the defense has emphasized in the first 3 weeks of the trial.  Mr. Lynam asked if Mr. Goel even knew whether the confidential data about Intel that he said he had divulged would make someone buy or sell the stock. 

"How that was processed by Mr. Rajaratnam, I don’t know.  It is material in my mind, sir."  -- Mr. Goel.

Prosecutors called to the stand Rick Muscha, an IR (investor relations) exec at Xilinx, a semiconductor company.  Mr. Muscha testified about internal Xilinx e-mail and meetings detailing disappointing financial results at the company.  The government accuses Mr. Rajaratnam of trading Xilinx during this period based on tips from Kris Chellam, a senior Xilinx executive who later joined Galleon. 

For further details, go to:   [NYT Dealbook, 3/29]