Rajat Gupta trial: of closet calls and promotional fund meetings

To convict former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member Rajat Gupta of insider trading, prosecutors must convince the jury he benefited from his relationship with Raj Rajaratnam, the now-imprisoned hedge fund manager he is accused of tipping.

To convict former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member Rajat Gupta of insider trading, prosecutors must convince the jury he benefited from his relationship with Raj Rajaratnam, the now-imprisoned hedge fund manager he is accused of tipping.

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On Thursday, the prosecution put on the witness stand a former marketing manager at Rajaratnam’s Galleon Group who testified that he participated in meetings in the United Arab Emirates with Gupta to promote Galleon funds to potential investors.

A Goldman Sachs executive also said he made a critical telephone call from a janitor’s closet during a New York Yankees baseball game.

“I introduced him the way he was introduced to me, the new chairman of Galleon International,” Ayad Alhadi, the former Galleon managing director of marketing, testified.

He said he and Gupta attended meetings with banks and pension funds on March 31 and April 1, 2008, in Abu Dhabi.

Prosecutors said Rajaratnam appointed Gupta chairman of Galleon International in 2008 and awarded him an ownership stake. But under questioning later by a defense lawyer, Alhadi said he “never received notice that it was consummated.”