Judge refuses to reduce Rajaratnam's $100 million bail

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge refused to lower the $100 million bail for Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire hedge fund manager accused of heading an insider-trading ring.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz did agree to defense lawyers' request to ease travel restrictions for the Sri Lanka native, letting him travel within the United States provided government officials know in advance where he is going.

Katz added, though, "I don't really see a reason to revisit the monetary amount." The defense had sought to reduce the bail to $25 million.

Rajaratnam founded the hedge fund firm Galleon Group, and is a central figure in what prosecutors call the largest U.S. hedge fund insider trading scandal. He attended Thursday's hearing but did not speak.

John Dowd, a lawyer for Rajaratnam, argued that his client has extensive family and business ties to New York, and that the higher bail was "not necessary" given that "there is no risk of flight."

He also renewed the defense's criticism of the criminal case, saying "the complaint is not as overwhelming and as compelling as the government would like you to believe."

But prosecutor Joshua Klein countered that Rajaratnam's ties to Sri Lanka create an "opportunity for flight."

Characterizing the government's case as "extremely strong," Klein also said Rajaratnam has "enormous" resources, with an estimated $1.3 billion to $1.8 billion net worth, and that these factors also warranted leaving bail unchanged.

Federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have since October 16 implicated hedge fund firms, traders, lawyers, a credit analyst and others for trying to profit illegally from trading in companies such as Google Inc, Hilton Hotels Corp and Intel Corp.

Federal investigators announced criminal and civil charges against many additional defendants at a press conference on Thursday.

Galleon is winding down its hedge funds.

The Rajaratnam criminal case is USA v Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-mj-2306.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by John Wallace, Gary Hill)