By Jenny Strasburg
Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against SAC Capital Advisors LP, accusing the giant hedge-fund firm of allowing offenses “by numerous employees” that encouraged “substantial, pervasive” insider trading.
The charges, disclosed Thursday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, cap a multiyear probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which in a separate civil action is seeking to ban SAC founder Steven A. Cohen from managing client money for the rest of his life.
The government also accused former SAC portfolio manager Richard Lee of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Prosecutors didn’t accuse Cohen personally of wrongdoing in the criminal complaint.
