Government Accuses Gates Foundation Adviser of Insider Trading

A former Goldman Sachs board member who leads a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation advisory panel on international development has been accused by federal regulators of insider trading, The Seattle Times and Bloomberg write.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Rajat Gupta passed inside information about Goldman to Raj Rajaratnam, a hedge-fund manager due to go on trial next week in a major insider-trading case. A lawyer for Mr. Gupta termed the accusation “totally baseless.”

A longtime executive at the consulting form McKinsey, Mr. Gupta chairs the Gates Foundation’s Global Development Advisory Panel. In a statement, the foundation said Mr. Gupta is “a valued member” of the five-person board “and will continue to serve on it.”

Mr. Rajaratnam is fighting the insider-trading charges against him from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg noted.