QUOTEBOX - Rajaratnam wiretaps played at U.S. trial

NEW YORK - A Manhattan federal court jury on Thursday heard the voice of accused hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam as recorded on phone taps by the FBI.

The government presented the intercepts from Rajaratnam's mobile phone as evidence at his criminal trial, the biggest Wall Street insider trading case in decades. [ID:nN10161349]

The other three people on these excerpts have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the prosecution. Rajaratnam's defense team argues the tapes prove nothing.

* Rajaratnam speaking with his former Galleon Group employee Adam Smith on May 1, 2008, at 3:02 p.m.:

Rajaratnam: "OK, how's the market treating you today?"

Smith: "Ah ... like a baby treats a diaper."

Rajaratnam giggles.

* Rajaratnam and former McKinsey & Co partner Anil Kumar on Aug. 15, 2008, at 11:04 a.m.

Kumar: "Hey, Raj."

Rajaratnam: "Yeah, hi, Anil."

Kumar: "Hi. So yesterday they agreed on, at least they've shaken hands, and said they're going ahead with the deal."

Rajaratnam: "Uh-huh."

Kumar: "Uh, so I think, uh, you can now just buy, you know, pretty ... You know, I thought we, in the India, uh, thing, also we had a whole bunch of AMD, but now it's not there, so you must have moved it off somewhere else or something. Remember we bought it at four.

Rajaratnam: "Remember you said, you said that, that they would, uh, that you will get ample, uh, chance."

* Rajaratnam and former Intel executive Rajiv Goel on Oct. 7, 2008, at 1:46 p.m.:

Rajaratnam: "Hey, where are you?

Goel: "Uh, somebody banged my car, man. I'm at home waiting for the insurance people."

Rajaratnam: "OK, listen, there's something important that I want to talk to you about, right?"

Goel: "Yeah, tell me."

Rajaratnam: "So, you know PeopleSupport, um, the ... supposed to close on, uh, Tues..."

Goel: "October 31, yeah."