Prosecutor: Inside trades maybe topped $50 million

(AP) — A prosecutor says insider trading profits for wealthy hedge fund operator Raj Rajaratnam (RAHJ rah-juh-RUHT'-nuhm) may top $50 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Klein told federal Judge Richard Holwell (HALL'-well) Tuesday at a bail hearing that the evidence against Rajaratnam continues to mount, including the amount of illegal profits, placed at $36 million earlier this month.

Holwell declined Klein's request that Rajaratnam be jailed pending trial. He also refused a defense request to reduce his $100 million bail to $20 million.

The portfolio manager for the Galleon Group hedge fund has been free on bail since his October arrest.

Prosecutors have charged 20 other people in what they call the largest hedge fund insider trading case ever brought. Seven defendants have already pleaded guilty.