<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5616659a9dd7cc04308b4e26-995-746/screen%20shot%202014-12-10%20at%201.30.15%20pm.png" alt="David Ganek" data-mce-source="Getty Images/ Cindy Ord">Getty Images/ Cindy OrdDavid Ganek, the cofounder of now-closed Level Global</img></div></div></div>Hedge&#xa0;fund manager David Ganek&#xa0;scored a big win on Thursday after a judge&#xa0;refused to dismiss his case against the&#xa0;US&#xa0;government.Ganek, the founder of now-defunct hedge fund Level Global, filed a lawsuit in February 2015 against the&#xa0;FBI and Southern District prosecutors in New York <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-ganek-sues-fbi-and-prosecutors-2015-2">after the government's 2010 "reckless" raid</a> resulted in the shutting down of his once $4 billion firm.The defendants, which include a number of FBI agents and US Attorney Preet Bharara, filed a motion to dismiss the suit.In an order and memorandum dated March 10, Judge William H. Pauley III wrote that the defendants' motion to dismiss&#xa0;is granted in part and denied in part.Pauley sided with the defendants over the legality of tipping off&#xa0;The Wall Street Journal about the raid. Pauley&#xa0;also sided with the defendants over choosing a raid rather than asking for information via subpoena.All other aspects of Ganek's Fourth and Fifth Amendment claims survive, the judge wrote.At the heart of the case is whether the government fabricated evidence against Ganek to justify the search warrant and raid his office, and the seizure of his electronics.Here is the relevant excerpt from Pauley's memo:In this lawsuit, Ganek seeks to hold government agents accountable for violating his civil rights.&#xa0;More specficially, Ganek alleges that the affidavit supporting the Government's request for a search warrant of Level Global and his office contained deliberate misrepresentatons that were later exposed by sworn trial testimony of an FBI agent and a government informant. According to Ganek, the fabricated evidence led a magistrate to issue the warrant. That, coupled with the Defendants' heavy-handed tactics, precipitated the closure of Level Global. These are grave allegations.In the memo's conclusion, Pauley wrote:&#xa0;"Discovery is now appropriate to ascertain whether this case is about a simple misunderstanding or whether something more troubling was afoot," Pauley concluded.The judge has set a March 30 conference for both parties.In a statement, Ganek called Thursday's&#xa0;decision a "tremendous victory."&#xa0;He said:&#xa0;This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and brings us one step closer to sorely needed deterrence for preventing the government from engaging in this kind of misconduct without any concern about the consequences.&#xa0;This is the first step towards holding the government accountable despite the fact that conventional wisdom has been the government can't be held accountable for troubling conduct.<h2>Level Global's fall</h2>On Monday, November 22, 2010, the FBI raided hedge fund Level Global's midtown Manhattan offices.The once-$4 billion hedge fund became the first casualty of the&#xa0;government's massive insider trading crackdown.&#xa0;On&#xa0;February 11, 2011, Level Global sent a letter to investors informing that it would be returning capital to investors and closing its&#xa0;doors. The 65 employees of the fund lost their jobs.Fourteen months after the raid, the fund's cofounder Anthony Chiasson was arrested and charged of trading on insider information in&#xa0;<a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/defense-opens-insider-trade-case-with-attack-on-witnesses/">Dell and Nvidia stocks</a>. Chiasson was a codefendant with Todd Newman, a former Diamondback portfolio manager.Ganek was never charged with any wrongdoing. &#xa0;&#xa0;Chiasson and Newman&#xa0;were convicted in May 2013. At that time,&#xa0;Level Global agreed <a href="http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1365171514050#.VIiQBGTF8rU">to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $20.5 million to settle insider trading charges.</a>In December 2014,&#xa0;the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers New York City, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">tossed the insider-trading convictions for the two hedge fund managers</a>.Solicitor General Donald Verrilli filed&#xa0;petition in July asking the Supreme Court to review the appelate court's decision. That petition was&#xa0;rejected, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chiasson-and-newman-exonerated-2015-10">exonerating Chiasson&#xa0;and Newman</a> and&#xa0;marking the final chapter in the years-long case.By&#xa0;October, Bharara had&#xa0;<a href="has%20dismissed%20charges%20against%20former%20SAC%20Capital%20trader%20Michael%20Steinberg%20and%20six%20others%20who%20pled%20guilty%20to%20insider%20trading.">dismissed charges</a> against former SAC Capital trader&#xa0;Michael Steinberg and six others who pled guilty to insider trading in the Chiasson/Newman case.The SEC&#xa0;refunded Level Global for the fine they paid.Here's the memo from Judge William Pauley:<div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Memo &amp; Order from Judge William Pauley on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/303723311/Memo-Order-from-Judge-William-Pauley" style="text-decoration: underline;">Memo &amp; Order from Judge William Pauley</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/303723311/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" scrolling="no" id="doc_75642" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>&#xa0; <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/life-lessons-goldman-sachs-elevator-gselevator-2015-7">Life lessons from the Goldman Sachs Elevator parody twitter account</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/MGUzMzQ5MjczMzEzYjZkZTJlYTFkMWEw"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Rjb3Npdjo8q2v5ZB5UOtC4ddaCiODdhz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Rjb3Npdjo8q2v5ZB5UOtC4ddaCiODdhz',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

Hedge fund manager David Ganek scored a 'tremendous victory' in his suit against the US government

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/509ab1b06bb3f77804000003-1000-750/doorman-3.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="doorman, 740 park avenue" width="480" />Park Avenue Documentary</div></div>The <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/string_of_heists_at_park_NjWFLg3BKfvXVpOABquLkJ">New York Post reports</a> that there have been a series of <keyword id="31199" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jewelry">jewelry</keyword> thefts at 740 Park Avenue—the super luxurious NYC apartment building that's home to some of <keyword id="42111" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wall-Street">Wall Street</keyword>'s biggest heavy-hitters. 
From late May through early July, residents have reported about $250,000 worth of missing wedding bands, watches and other jewelry, the Post reports citing police. 
<keyword id="1818237" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="740-Park-Avenue">740 Park Avenue</keyword> is home to billionaire private equity tycoon Steve Schwarzman, hedge fund manager <keyword id="1818236" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="David-Ganek">David Ganek</keyword> (Level Global co-founder), billionaire hedge fund manager <keyword id="1818235" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Israel-Englander">Israel Englander</keyword> (Millennium Partners), David Koch, Vera Wang and many other powerful people. 
According to the report, hedge fund managers Ganek and Englander and their wives were among the victims of the heist. 
<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/thief_in_their_midst_0rvGdnzxLtkgKsewyWtZVO">From the Post:</a> 
Other victims include hedge funder David Ganek, 49, and his novelist wife, Danielle Ganek, 49, who lost diamond earrings, two Patek Philippe watches and other jewelry worth nearly $100,000 from their sixth-floor pad.
...
Fourteenth-floor resident Caryl Englander, 59, a philanthropist and art collector, and her hubby, Israel, lost a $7,500 Vacheron Constantin gold watch.
It's believed to be an inside job, the report said citing an unnamed law enforcement officer.

Two Hedge Funders And Their Wives Got Robbed Of Over $100,000 Worth Of Jewelry At Their Luxury NYC Apartment Building

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53c7e28e6bb3f7f8296d1956-1024-768/isd0xlnf5a1scu0000000000-2.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="ISd0xlnf5a1scu0000000000" width="480" style="float: right;" /><a href="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/740-Park-Ave-APT-6-7A-New-York-NY-10021/2106019795_zpid/">Zillow</a></div></div>Hedge fund manager David Ganek is selling his elegant duplex at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/740-park-avenue-new-york-residents-history-2011-12">740 Park Avenue</a> for $44 million, <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/07/15/jacqueline_kennedy_onassiss_childhood_home_listed_for_44m.php#more">according to Curbed</a>. The building was designed by renowned architect Rosario Candela.
In addition to its stunning amenities, the apartment also has an interesting history: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis lived in the home as a child, and her grandfather developed the building back in 1929.
The newly renovated duplex features a marble gallery, a library, a media room, and more. The residence is for sale through Sotheby's International Realty.

HOUSE OF THE DAY: Hedge Funder David Ganek Is Selling His Insane Duplex At 740 Park For $44 Million

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57d859fa077dcc39128b56fb-995/screen shot 2014-12-10 at 1.30.15 pm.png" alt="David Ganek" data-mce-source="Getty Images/ Cindy Ord" />Getty Images/ Cindy OrdDavid Ganek.</div></div></div>A hedge fund manager who shut down his fund following a government raid is now lashing out.David Ganek shuttered his hedge fund Level Global following a government raid at his offices in 2010. Last year, he filed a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-ganek-sues-fbi-and-prosecutors-2015-2">sued the FBI and New York's Southern District</a>, calling that raid "reckless."On Tuesday, Ganek said that the government's choice to raid his fund was unjust."It was political, a pandering to what was going on in the world that time," Ganek said at the Delivering Alpha conference in New York hosted by Institutional Investor and CNBC.Ganek also said that Preet Bharara's office, which brought charges against people working at his firm, did not engage with him when he tried to negotiate the lawsuit he eventually brought last year.By Ganek's telling, he and his attorneys sent a draft of the complaint to the government before filing, to know beforehand if they were "barking up the wrong tree.""I was sensitive to not charge people who weren't involved," Ganek said.But the government declined Ganek's offer to engage, Ganek said.In 2014, courts overturned an insider-trading conviction of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">Level Global's co-founder Anthony Chiasson</a>.Business Insider has reached out to the US attorney's office and FBI for comment. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/krugman-financial-markets-arent-taking-trump-seriously-2016-8">KRUGMAN: Financial markets aren't taking a Trump victory very seriously</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RrNXdtNTE6A2yVb-FAhQwFsUcSxyV1lf" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'RrNXdtNTE6A2yVb-FAhQwFsUcSxyV1lf',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

A hedge fund manager who shut down his fund following a government raid is now lashing out

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54889160eab8ea6a048b4567-983-737/david-ganek-2.png" border="0" alt="David Ganek">Getty Images/ Cindy OrdDavid Ganek, cofounder of Level Global</img></div></div></div>David Ganek, the founder of now-closed hedge fund Level Global, is suing the FBI and Southern District prosecutors in New York after the government's 2010 raid resulted in shutting down his now $4 billion firm. Back in December, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers New York City, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">tossed the insider trading convictions</a> of two hedge fund managers, including former Level Global cofounder, Anthony Chiasson.At the time, Ganek called the court's decision "vindication" for the dozens of Level Global employees who lost their jobs. And now he's taking the government to court. "The government's reckless search of Level Global needlessly damaged my reputation and the reputations of dozens of other good, honest people," Ganek said in a statement. He continued: "The action filed today makes clear that the government's search of my office was based upon a fabrication. The government has known about this misconduct for years, yet has taken no action to correct it. A responsible Justice Department would sanction the people who made the decision that had such predictably calamitous consequences for a respected business and its employees." The case against Level Global's Chiasson and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback, was really high-profile. The codefendants had been accused of trading on inside information in <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/defense-opens-insider-trade-case-with-attack-on-witnesses/">Dell and Nvidia stocks</a>. The two hedge-funders were arrested in January 2012 and convicted in May 2013.Level Global, which Chiasson and Ganek cofounded in 2003, was a Connecticut-based hedge fund that once managed around $4 billion in assets. The firm became a casualty of the government's massive insider trading crackdown.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54888dde6bb3f7e1758b4568-854-640/chiasson-2.png" border="0" alt="Chiasson">Reuters/ Mike SegarAnthony Chiasson </img></div></div></div>In November 2010, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872?mod=djemalertNEWS&amp;mg=reno64-wsj&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872.html%3Fmod%3DdjemalertNEWS&amp;fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009">the FBI raided</a> Level Global and Diamondback. One source present at the Level Global office during the raid described it to Business Insider as "surreal." Following that raid, Level Global closed its doors in 2011 and roughly 65 of the fund's employees lost their jobs.In 2013, Level Global agreed <a href="http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1365171514050#.VIiQBGTF8rU">to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $20.5 million to settle insider trading charges.</a>One former Level Global employee, who will remain anonymous, had told us that it had been difficult for many of the former employees to find a job, or a position equal to the one they had before at Level Global. Here's the release about the lawsuit:David Ganek today filed a lawsuit regarding the prosecutorial misconduct that culminated with the improper search of his office at the Level Global hedge fund, including the use of fabricated information in the process of seeking judicial approval for the November 2010 search.Reporters were tipped off in advance to be present during the high-profile search, one of the only instances ever when FBI agents have raided a financial services organization without simultaneously making arrests or filing charges. That raid directly and predictably led to the closing of Level Global and cost nearly 60 innocent people their jobs and reputations. Ganek stated: "The government's reckless search of Level Global needlessly damaged my reputation and the reputations of dozens of other good, honest people. The action filed today makes clear that the government's search of my office was based upon a fabrication. The government has known about this misconduct for years, yet has taken no action to correct it. A responsible Justice Department would sanction the people who made the decision that had such predictably calamitous consequences for a respected business and its employees." The Level Global search was based on a fabricated claim falsely attributed to a government informant. The government affidavit supporting the search warrant request, written by an FBI special agent and supposedly reviewed by seasoned prosecutors, included a material false statement. But Ganek was never actually implicated in any wrongdoing at the time the warrant was issued, as acknowledged in courtroom testimony in the Anthony Chiasson/Todd Newman trial by both the informant and the lead FBI special agent: <div style="padding-left: 30px;"><ul style="padding-left: 30px;"><li style="padding-left: 30px;">November 28, 2012, testimony by government cooperator Sam Adondakis: <ul style="padding-left: 30px;"><li style="padding-left: 30px;">Prosecutor's Question: "What, if anything, did you tell Mr. Ganek about Sandy Goyal's source within Dell?"</li><li style="padding-left: 30px;">Cooperator Sam Adondakis: "I never told him about it."</li></ul></li></ul><ul style="padding-left: 30px;"><li style="padding-left: 30px;">December 10, 2012, testimony by FBI special agent David Makol:<ul style="padding-left: 30px;"><li style="padding-left: 30px;">"Mr. Adondakis did not say that he told Mr. Ganek that the Dell information was coming from a source inside Dell."</li></ul></li></ul></div>Of course, Ganek knew all along he was innocent. Immediately following the raid on Level Global he hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation, which verified he had not engaged in wrongdoing. The firm's attorney then asked prosecutors to acknowledge the raid improperly targeted Ganek. But United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara personally refused to do that, saying that the office had not authorized the raid without considering the consequences, including the potential for closing the firm, and that they stood by their actions. That was the final opportunity to save the $4 billion hedge fund because Ganek was the principal owner, and his sophisticated investors understandably were unwilling to invest in a fund whose founder was the target of an unprecedented government raid based on allegations of criminal activity. Bharara has since acknowledged that the closure of Level Global was a predictable response to the search, stating during a July 18, 2012 appearance on CNBC:"...firefighters, just like prosecutors in my office and other regulators, they are conditioned and they're trained to make sure that you don't do undue damage. But you've got to figure out whether or not there's a fire. And firefighters sometimes will go into a building to make sure they're saving lives and putting out the fire, and it turns out it was just smoke, but damage occurs to the building. And damage occurs, as I understand it, and as people in my office are sensitized to understanding it, to business organizations, even from the mere opening of an investigation. And we know that." Adding insult to injury, prosecutors did not use any evidence gathered from the raid during the trial of Chiasson, a co-founder of the firm. That trial was based on information gathered through the standard use of subpoenas rather than the unprecedented and high-stakes public search. Chiasson's conviction was recently reversed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that there was no evidence of his guilt. An entire firm was destroyed because of reckless prosecutorial misconduct that was justified by a fabrication. The only Level Global employee who engaged in wrongdoing was Adondakis, a former low-level employee the firm actually fired months before FBI agents raided the firm. The lawsuit filed today based on violations of Ganek's right to due process under the Fifth Amendment and right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment. The suit names Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with the individual prosecutors and FBI supervisors and agents who are believed to have been involved in approving the improper search of Ganek's office at Level Global. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/excel-index-match-vlookup-video-how-to-2015-2">This is what separates the Excel masters from the wannabes</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="50YnY4czr4ms1vJ7yz3xzq0excz_pUMs" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '50YnY4czr4ms1vJ7yz3xzq0excz_pUMs',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

Hedge manager sues the US government over a 'reckless' raid that shut down his $4 billion firm

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54889160eab8ea6a048b4567-983-737/david-ganek-2.png" border="0" alt="David Ganek">Getty Images/ Cindy OrdDavid Ganek, cofounder of Level Global</img></div></div></div>David Ganek, the founder of now-closed hedge fund Level Global, said <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">today's court decision to toss the insider trading convictions</a> of two hedge fund managers is "vindication," but a lot of folks still lost their reputations and jobs. 
"For the dozens of my high-integrity colleagues at Level Global who lost their jobs and their reputations because the FBI improperly raided our firm in this now-discredited fishing expedition, today's legal vindication is a reminder how prosecutorial recklessness has real impact on real people," Ganek, who now runs Apocalypse 22, said in a statement. 
On Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">reversed the insider-trading</a> convictions of hedge-fund managers Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson. 
It was a really high-profile case.
Newman, an ex-Diamondback Capital portfolio manager, Chiasson, the cofounder of Level Global, were codefendants accused of trading on inside information in <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/defense-opens-insider-trade-case-with-attack-on-witnesses/">Dell and Nvidia stocks</a>. The two hedge-funders were arrested in January 2012 and convicted in May 2013.
Level Global, which Chiasson and Ganek cofounded in 2003, was a Connecticut-based hedge fund that once managed around $4 billion in assets. The firm became a casualty of the government's massive insider trading crackdown.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54888dde6bb3f7e1758b4568-854-640/chiasson-2.png" border="0" alt="Chiasson">Reuters/ Mike SegarAnthony Chiasson </img></div></div></div>In November 2010, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872?mod=djemalertNEWS&amp;mg=reno64-wsj&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872.html%3Fmod%3DdjemalertNEWS&amp;fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009">the FBI raided</a> Level Global and Diamondback. One source present at the Level Global office during the raid described it to Business Insider as "surreal." 
Following that raid, Level Global closed its doors in 2011 and roughly 65 of the fund's employees lost their jobs.
In 2013, Level Global agreed <a href="http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1365171514050#.VIiQBGTF8rU">to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $20.5 million to settle insider trading charges.</a>
Today's court decision is seen as "bittersweet," a former Level Global employee tells us. 
"The whole thing today is bittersweet. I'm happy for Anthony [Chiasson]. He's a great guy, a good dad and husband and friend, too." 
"This exoneration is good for Anthony," the source said. "But we'll never be able to get our reputations back. I think that's clear."
The source explained that it's been difficult for many of the former employees to find a job, or a position equal to the one they had before at Level Global. 
"A lot of people got hurt. My life had been turned upside down. Reputations are just destroyed. You can't get a job." 
So even though the charges have been reversed, the saga isn't over for people who worked at Level Global. It may never be over.

EX-LEVEL GLOBAL EMPLOYEE: We'll Never Get Our Reputations Back

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56cc04b76e97c61f048b8e4f-1024-768/2701610906_f68f5266cf_b.jpg" alt="unicorn" data-mce-source="Flickr/bptakoma" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bptakoma/2701610906" /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bptakoma/2701610906">Flickr/bptakoma</a></div></div></div>Finance Insider is Business Insider's midday summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/newsletter/prime-finance?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=finance_insider&amp;utm_term=finance_insider_leadgen_text_link&amp;utm_content=leadgen_text_link&amp;utm_campaign=finance_insider_leadgen_link">click here.</a>Zenefits, a San Francisco-based company which offers free benefits management software in exchange for becoming the customer's insurance broker, was once valued at $4.5 billion. In just a few months, however, cofounder Parker Conrad has resigned as CEO, the VP of sales has departed, alcohol has been banned at work, and 17% of the workforce has been laid off. This is the story of how one of the fastest-growing startups in Silicon Valley history <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inside-story-of-zenefits-2016-3">raised $580 million then spiraled out of control</a>.Elsewhere, the CEO of Valeant has already<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pearson-will-not-sell-bausch-and-lomb-2016-3"> rejected Bill Ackman's master plan</a>, bonuses at Deutsche Bank's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-cut-the-bonus-pool-2016-3">investment banking unit fell 20%</a> last year, and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cfo-of-wall-streets-nightmare-stock-is-out-2016-3">CFO of SunEdison is stepping down.</a>The price of oil may finally have bottomed, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iea-oil-market-report-for-march-2016-2016-3">according to the International Energy Agency</a>, and GM may have just <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gm-is-buying-cruise-automation-and-taking-the-lead-on-driverless-cars-2016-3">dropped $1 billion on a self-driving car startup with just 40 employees. </a>Last of all, here is what is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-keeps-goldmans-investing-team-up-at-night-2016-3">keeping Goldman Sachs' investing team up at night.</a>Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-echo-capital-one-integration-2016-3">Amazon Echo's next frontier is banking - yes, banking</a> - Amazon Echo has already taken over your home - it was only a matter of time before it took control of your finances, too.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bank-of-america-job-cuts-2016-3">A bunch of senior sales and trading staff have left Bank of America</a> - Bank of America has been cutting jobs, and now we're hearing who is going to leave.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-ganek-lawsuit-2016-3">Hedge fund manager David Ganek scored a 'tremendous victory' in his suit against the US government</a> - Ganek scored a big win on Thursday after a judge refused to dismiss his case against the US government.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-morgan-stanley-carla-harris-looks-for-in-new-hires-2016-3">A Morgan Stanley exec says this is the one personality trait she looks for in every job candidate</a> - Carla Harris was a star dealmaker for Morgan Stanley before being named vice chairman of the firm's prized global wealth-management division.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-stop-corporate-debt-for-equity-2016-3">China just made a move to tackle the biggest threat to its economy, and it reeks of desperation</a> - Chinese officials have said that they will start allowing commercial banks to swap nonperforming loans in super-indebted companies for stock.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackrocks-bryan-cameron-on-modern-traders-2016-2">Here is the skill you need to master to make it as a successful Wall Street trader</a> - What does it take to be a successful trader?

The rise and fall of one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56293eb6bd86ef185c8b8f12-1187-890/screen shot 2013-12-18 at 4.00.49 pm.png" alt="Michael Steinberg" data-mce-source="Reuters/ Brendan McDermid" />Reuters/ Brendan McDermidFormer SAC trader Michael Steinberg</div></div></div>The so-called "Sheriff of Wall Street," US Attorney Preet Bharara, has dismissed charges against former SAC Capital trader Michael Steinberg and six others who pled guilty to insider trading.In December 2013, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/ex-sac-capital-trader-steinberg-sentenced-to-3-12-years/">Steinberg fainted in court</a> before a jury found him guilty of using inside information to trade shares of Dell and Nvidia for $1.8 million in profits.In May 2014, a judge sentenced the married father of two to <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/ex-sac-capital-trader-steinberg-sentenced-to-3-12-years/">to three-and-a-half years</a> in federal prison.Today, he's exonerated. Here's the statement from Bharara's office: "Today, this Office will move to dismiss charges against Michael Steinberg, who was previously convicted at trial, and six cooperating witnesses who pled guilty, all in connection with the same insider trading scheme charged in United States v. Newman and Chiasson. The decision to dismiss these charges follows the Second Circuit's Newman decision, and also reflects determinations, after careful consideration of all of our prior insider trading prosecutions, that insisting on maintaining guilty pleas in these cases would not be in the interests of justice. These prosecutions were all undertaken in good faith reliance on what this Office and others, including able defense counsel for all those who pled guilty, understood to be the well-settled law before Newman."Bharara, who has been cracking down on insider trading since 2009, had a near-perfect track record for convictions until the reversal of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/court-tosses-insider-trading-conviction-2014-12">the insider-trading convictions</a> for former hedge fund managers Anthony Chiasson and Todd Newman in December 2014.Chiasson, cofounder of the defunct hedge fund Level Global, and Newman, who worked at Diamondback, were co-defendants also accused of trading on inside information in <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/defense-opens-insider-trade-case-with-attack-on-witnesses/">Dell and Nvidia stocks</a>. Steinberg and the other traders and analysts who had their charges dismissed on Thursday were tied to the same case.The appeals court ruled that "the government failed to present sufficient evidence that the defendants willfully engaged in substantive insider trading or a conspiracy to commit insider trading in violation of the federal securities laws."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56293ed4bd86effb5b8b8f02-1199-899/screen shot 2013-08-09 at 9.59.12 am.png" alt="preet bharara" data-mce-source="REUTERS/ Lucas Jackson" />REUTERS/ Lucas JacksonPreet Bharara.</div></div></div>Bharara didn't immediately back down. In July, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli filed a petition asking the US Supreme Court to review the appellate court's decision. That <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chiasson-and-newman-exonerated-2015-10">petition was rejected earlier this month,</a> marking the end of a five-year long case. The <a href="http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872?mod=djemalertNEWS&amp;mg=reno64-wsj&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704243904575630693960704872.html%3Fmod%3DdjemalertNEWS&amp;fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009">FBI raided</a> Level Global and Diamondback in November 2010, and <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/f-b-i-makes-insider-trading-arrests/">the arrests were made in January 2012</a>.Level Global, once a $4 billion hedge fund, closed a few months after the FBI's raid.Earlier this year, the now-defunct hedge fund's cofounder and CEO David Ganek<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/david-ganek-sues-fbi-and-prosecutors-2015-2"> filed a lawsuit against</a> the FBI and prosecutors from Bharara's office over their "reckless" raid. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-board-game-milton-bradley-2015-8">We got our hands on Donald Trump's failed 1989 board game and it's bizarre</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lleTI1dzoJeTirhskwVCdYuFwdmEULhh" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'lleTI1dzoJeTirhskwVCdYuFwdmEULhh',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

You Searched For "David Ganek" and got 8 results

Hedge fund manager David Ganek scored a 'tremendous victory' in his suit against the US government

Julia La Roche

Two Hedge Funders And Their Wives Got Robbed Of Over $100,000 Worth Of Jewelry At Their Luxury NYC Apartment Building

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HOUSE OF THE DAY: Hedge Funder David Ganek Is Selling His Insane Duplex At 740 Park For $44 Million

Jill Comoletti

A hedge fund manager who shut down his fund following a government raid is now lashing out

Rachael Levy

Hedge manager sues the US government over a 'reckless' raid that shut down his $4 billion firm

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EX-LEVEL GLOBAL EMPLOYEE: We'll Never Get Our Reputations Back

Julia La Roche

The rise and fall of one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups

Matt Turner

The 'Sheriff of Wall Street' just gave up on a huge insider trading case

Julia La Roche