Hedge fund operator Rajaratnam pleads not guilty

National News

Wealthy hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam and a codefendant pleaded not guilty Monday to charges they were major players in a scheme that used inside information to make stock trades that generated millions of dollars in profits.

Prosecutors, who have described the case as a "wake up call for Wall Street," promised to hand over to defense attorneys 100 hours of intercepted phone calls made over eight months that they say implicate the defendants.

Rajaratnam and Danielle Chiesi entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan to an indictment returned last week in a $52 million insider trading case that has resulted in charges against 21 people.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Klein asked Holwell to set a trial date in June or July but defense lawyers balked, saying it would take months to review the audio tapes of telephone conversations between the defendants.

Holwell declined to set a trial date but said he may eventually agree with prosecutors and schedule a summer trial. Klein also said evidence against the defendants includes post-arrest statements.

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Processing Change for Certain Form I-730 Petitions

USCIS changed the processing location for certain Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, filings. Previously the Service Center Operations Directorate processed these filings. Now, the International Adjudications Support Branch (IASB) in the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate will process the petitions filed by individuals who were admitted to the United States as refugees. Petitioners and/or accredited representatives who file refugee-based Form I-730 petitions will receive further instructions when IASB receives their filings. Form I-730 petitions filed by persons granted asylum will not be affected by this change. The mailing instructions for Form I-730 remain the same. Petitioners should continue to follow the Where to File directions on the Form I-730 page. This policy update is consistent with the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Standard Occupational Classification system. DOL defines economists as people who conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. Economists may collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.

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