Galleon defendant Kurland nears plea

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mark Kurland, a former executive at New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund accused in the Galleon insider trading case, appears ready to waive indictment and plead guilty, according to a court document filed on Tuesday.

The filing in Manhattan federal court in New York by U.S. prosecutors said the government will file an alternative charging document known as an "information" after Kurland's waiver of indictment. The "information" is usually prepared when a defendant is ready to finalize a guilty plea.

Kurland's lawyer, Patrick Smith, could not immediately be reached for comment by telephone or by email.

The former hedge fund executive is among 21 people who faced criminal or civil charges in the investigation that ensnared Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam. Kurland's guilty plea would be the eighth in the case described by prosecutors as the biggest hedge fund insider trading scandal in the United States.

A court hearing was scheduled for Kurland for Wednesday afternoon.

The first indications that Kurland was preparing to plead came on January 15 when federal prosecutors said in a court filing that the government "is in the process of finalizing a plea agreement" with the former New Castle and Bear Stearns fund manager.

At New Castle, Kurland was a colleague of Danielle Chiesi, who was indicted last month for insider trading.

Nine people, including Rajaratnam and Chiesi, have been indicted since a wave of arrests and charges last October and November. Seven people have entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors.

The case is USA v Mark Kurland, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-mj-02307.

(Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Gary Hill)