Shopclues claims to be unaffected by founder’s arrest

Shopclues.com says its business is unaffected with the arrest

of its founder Sandeep Aggarwal. It maybe recalled that the FBI has arrested Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder of Shopclues.com for allegedly tipping off Richard Lee, a SAC Capital portfolio manager about a pending deal between Yahoo and Microsoft in 2009. As per a release by Shopeclues.com, Aggarwal has been released by the authorities after signing a bond.

The press release mentions that the charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant (Sandeep Aggarwal) will be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. As per a Bloomberg report, Aggarwal was released on 500,000 dollars (over Rs 3 crore) bond. Aggarwal was also ordered to surrender his passport, visa and green card and remain in custody with his wife and can only travel to New York for his court appearance.

Earlier Aggarwal was arrested by FBI agents in San Jose, California, as a part of the government’s probe of insider trading at hedge funds led by Preet Bharara. Also, the Preet Bharara’s office has charged Aggarwal with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for passing along an inside tip about a pending deal. Aggarwal is said to have spoken to about 14 traders or portfolio managers at various hedge funds about the Microsoft-Yahoo partnership.