Insider trading: The Tamil Tiger connection
I almost missed this juicy little tidbit from the arrest of Raj Rajaratnam, accused of millions of dollars of deals in insider trading: he's also suspected of helping to finance the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka's only recently-defeated insurgent group.
One of the things that made the Tamil Tigers such a stubborn organization for Sri Lanka's military to defeat was the large amount of financial support they received from the Tamil diaspora around the world. Donors gave huge amounts of money to support the cause of a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. Rajaratnam, worth billions, had publicly begun a charity to help rebuild homes after the devastating 2004 tsunami that struck many Tamil villages on Sri Lanka's coasts. He's now implicated in donating directly to the Tigers' cause.
Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller traveled to Sri Lanka as the civil war was coming to a close. "Sri Lanka: Notes From A War On Terror", airing on Wednesday, November 4, documents the controversial strategy the Sri Lankan military undertook to finally bring an end to a Tamil insurgency that lasted thirty years.
Here's a short excerpt from that show:
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More specifically, authorities have looked into millions of dollars in donations that apparently landed in the coffers of the Tamil Tigers, the violent separatist group that battled the Sri Lankan government for a quarter-century until earlier this year.
A 2007 investigation into the American branch of the Tigers, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or L.T.T.E., turned up an “Individual B” who authorities say donated $2 million to the rebel group. People briefed on the matter, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal, said that individual was Mr. Rajaratnam.
One of the things that made the Tamil Tigers such a stubborn organization for Sri Lanka's military to defeat was the large amount of financial support they received from the Tamil diaspora around the world. Donors gave huge amounts of money to support the cause of a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. Rajaratnam, worth billions, had publicly begun a charity to help rebuild homes after the devastating 2004 tsunami that struck many Tamil villages on Sri Lanka's coasts. He's now implicated in donating directly to the Tigers' cause.
Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller traveled to Sri Lanka as the civil war was coming to a close. "Sri Lanka: Notes From A War On Terror", airing on Wednesday, November 4, documents the controversial strategy the Sri Lankan military undertook to finally bring an end to a Tamil insurgency that lasted thirty years.
Here's a short excerpt from that show:
Sneak Peek: Vanguard Season 3 Suicide Bomb (Video)
Recently on the News blog:
- Is Pakistan's instability spilling into Iran?
- Personal stories about The Oxycontin Express
- Afghanistan might get a runoff election after all
