Insider 'cooks' gave Indian-American 'recipes' for 'sugar'

Jason Pflaum, former analyst at Barai Capital Management LP, told a federal court jury Monday that he listened in on phone calls as his hearing impaired boss Samir Barai got non-public information on companies from Winifred Jiau, former consultant at ex-Primary Global Research.

Testifying at the federal court trial here of Jiau, 43, Pflaum said he wrote contemporaneous electronic instant messages to Barai to help him keep up the conversation  with the informer as she passed tips on Nvidia Corp. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd.

During one instant-message exchange, Barai and Jiau discussed Marvell's earnings as they were being announced by the company on May 29, 2008.

"M is up" Jiau wrote, adding a smiley-face emoticon. "Cookbook, yep recipe is very sweet," Barai replied.

"I'm your lucky lady," Jiau said, adding later, "I should cook more often."

"Very lucky man -- I am," he said.

Jurors saw a series of instant messages and e-mails in which Pflaum and Barai discussed Jiau's tips. Pflaum said the first time he ever took down notes of Jiau's calls was sometime from May 8 to May 29 in 2008.

Pflaum, who worked for Barai from March 2008 to January 2011, testified that he gave the US information on "more than 10" people he said he knew had committed insider trading. Barai pleaded guilty May 27 to conspiracy, wire fraud and obstruction.

The Jiau trial is part of a crackdown on employees and consultants at Primary Global Research, a Mountain View, California-based company that links investors with industry experts who work for public companies.