Former Ropes & Gray Employee Charged in $53 Million Insider-Trading Case

Arthur Cutillo, a former employee of the New York law firm Ropes & Gray, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan yesterday, along with six others charged in a $53 million insider-trading case.

Cutillo is accused of illegally sharing information regarding mergers with an insider-trading network linked to the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund.

Evidence against the seven includes wiretap recordings made by the government, instant messages, trading records and statements some of them made after their arrest, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Fish said in court Tuesday.

According to federal prosecutors, Cutillo allegedly provided inside information regarding pending acquisitions of Basking Ridge-based Avaya Inc., 3Com Corp. and Axcan Pharma Inc. If convicted, Cutillo could face up to 25 years in prison and upwards of $5.25 million in fines.

Ropes & Gray is a leading global law firm with offices in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.