The trial, following Sri Lanka civil war survivors' accusations that hedge fund billionaire and founder of Galleon Group Raja Rajaratnam funded terror group Tamil Tigers during the war, is expected to be heard as early as 2015.
At least 30 survivors of Lankan civil war accused Raja Rajaratnam, his father JM Rajaratnam and family foundation Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) of funding $5 million to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as Tamil Tigers, which initiated the attacks back in 1983.
The over 25-year-long war was started by the militant group, which started a fight against the government to form a separate Tamil state in Sri Lankan island. The war lasted until 2009 and months later, a group of victims accused Raja of financially supporting LTTE during the civil war.
The US District Court filed a case against Raja Rajaratnam and his family's organisation on behalf of the 30 victims of the civil war. However, it has since been kept on hold because of several factors.
Raja and his family-owned organisation "are members of the global Tamil expatriate community who knowingly and purposefully helped fund LTTE's terror campaign and spread LTTE's propaganda," the complaint alleged.
Raja's lawyer had earlier declared the allegations false and baseless. But America's Motley Rice, which is representing the complainant, is working on this case with the possibilities of development and is likely to disclose evidences to be used against Raja later in October.
"We do know that money moved that way, but the issue at trial will be whether he knew. The timing of it was unfortunate for us because we had been working on the case for so long, and the US government filed their claims first," Motley Rice attorney Michael Elsner told International Business Times, US.
Trial as early as 2015
Elsner is expecting the trial to begin next year, however, there are hurdles in his way such as procuring documents supporting complainants' accusations—past financial transactions—which he considers difficult.
"He was a hedge fund investor, so he has a sophisticated sense of how to move money and how to move it in ways that couldn't be detected. The discovery will be interesting and challenging," he said.
Raja Rajaratnam in Jail for insider trading
Raja, the conspirator of the insider trading, was reportedly convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy charges along with his other members. He is already serving an 11 year jail term in US, after being convicted in 2011.
