"We mourn the tragic loss of Sanjay, a devoted father, husband and friend. Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time," Jacob Gottlieb, Visium's founder, said in a statement.
Dow Jones earlier reported that the death was an apparent suicide.
Valvani, 44, turned himself into authorities last week. He was charged with netting about $25 million for an unnamed investment firm using inside info on the pending approval of a generic drug.
Visium had placed Valvani on leave earlier this year after it announced that it was under investigation. The hedge fund said on Friday that it would shut down its operations.
Valvani faced numerous charges, according to the complaint:
- Valvani was accused of committing securities and wire fraud with a former senior Food and Drug Administration official, Gordon Johnston, from about 2005 through 2011.
- Valvani "unlawfully obtained highly confidential and material nonpublic information from the FDA about the agency's approval of pending generic drug applications," according to the US attorney's statement.
- Valvani was also charged with passing material nonpublic info to Chris Plaford, a former Visium portfolio manager, who allegedly traded on that info.
- Johnston and Plaford have pleaded guilty and admitted their participation in the scheme.
- The complaint says Valvani instructed Johnston, the former FDA official, about the status and approval of a generic drug, and Johnston passed along that info back to Valvani. Valvani is accused of using that info to bet on two pharma companies that were likely to be affected by the inside tip, allegedly netting about $25 million in trading profits. Valvani is also accused of tipping off Plaford on this info.
We will update this post as we learn more.