NEW YORK – A former Wall Street titan was convicted Wednesday of making a fortune by coaxing a crew of corporate tipsters into giving him an illegal edge on blockbuster trades in technology and other stocks — what prosecutors called the largest insider trading case ever involving hedge funds.

Sri Lanka-born Raj Rajaratnam was convicted of five conspiracy counts and nine securities fraud charges at the closely watched trial in federal court in Manhattan. The jury had deliberated since April 25, and at one point was forced to start over again when one juror dropped out due to illness.

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Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group, exits court Wednesday in New York with his attorney Terence Lynam. Rajaratnam faces more than 19 years in prison. The Associated Press

Prosecutors had alleged the 53-year-old Rajaratnam made profits and avoided losses totaling more than $60 million from illegal tips. His Galleon Group funds, they said, became a multibillion-dollar success at the expense of ordinary stock investors who didn’t have advance notice of the earnings of public companies and of mergers and acquisitions.

On Wednesday, Rajaratnam sat at the defense table, a rarity for him at the trial, and stayed motionless as the verdict was read. He will remain free on bail, though now with electronic monitoring, at least until his July 29 sentencing.

Prosecutors said Rajaratnam faces a maximum term of more than 19 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the verdict sends a message that white collar laws apply to everyone, “no matter how much money you have.”

The defendant “was among the best and the brightest, one of the most educated, successful and privileged professionals in the country,” Bharara said in a statement.

“Yet, like so many others, he let greed and corruption cause his undoing.”

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