FBI raids hedge fund firms

WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided three hedge funds in what one of the targets is calling a wide-ranging probe of insider trading in the financial industry.

Bureau employees searched the New York offices of Level Global Investors LP, and the Stamford, Conn., headquarters of Diamondback Capital Management LLC, a law enforcement official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing case.

Another FBI official said the agency also searched a third site, at 30 Federal St. in Boston. Hedge fund Loch Capital Management LLC has its headquarters at that address.

The FBI said in a statement that it had executed search warrants in the three states “in an ongoing investigation.” Agency spokesmen said they could not comment further because the court documents are under seal.

A spokesman for Level Global acknowledged the raid took place Monday.

“We can confirm that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited our offices this morning as part of what we believe to be a broader investigation,” the spokesman said in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities and, at the same time, we are fully operational and continue to work diligently for the benefit of our investors.”

Diamondback and Level Global both are run by former managers of SAC Capital Advisors LP, of Stamford, Conn. Diamondback manages about $4.71 billion, according to public filings. Level Global manages $3.09 billion, filings show.

Loch Capital is run by brothers Timothy and Todd McSweeney. The brothers have been linked in news reports to hedge-fund manager Steven Fortuna. Fortuna pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from an earlier insider trading investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The raids come a month after U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan told the New York City Bar Association that white-collar crime was on the rise, carried out by Wall Street heavyweights who consider inside information “a performance enhancing drug that provides the illegal ‘edge’ to outpace their rivals and make even more money.”

Bharara said his office and the FBI had both recently added more resources to exposing insider trading and considered it a top criminal priority.

“Disturbingly, many of the people who are going to such lengths to obtain inside information for a trading advantage are already among the most advantaged, privileged, and wealthy insiders in modern finance,” he said last month.

Diamondback portfolio manager Andrea Feinstein declined to comment about the search. A spokesman for the SEC did not respond to requests for comment.

Calls to Loch Capital were not returned. Leonard Pierce, a lawyer for the fund, did not return a call seeking comment.