David Ganek hopes of seeing former Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara in court were squashed Tuesday.
Ganek, founder of now-defunct hedge fund Level Global, saw the 2015 case he brought against Bharara and the FBI, dismissed by the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ganek had alleged that the feds “fabricated evidence” in order to raid his then-$4 billion hedge fund in 2010 as part of Bharara’s broader crackdown on insider trading.
Bharara, the self-styled “Sheriff of Wall Street,” tried to have the case killed in 2016, but a judge only dismissed some of Ganek’s claims and let the case proceed, which led the former prosecutor to seek a dismissal on appeal.
The Second Circuit determined that there was “probable cause” to search the full office based on statements made by former Level Global analyst — and government informant — Sam Adondakis.
Based on allegations of insider trading at the firm, there was “at least a fair probability to think that [Ganek’s] office was among the LG premises where evidence of an insider trading scheme would be found,” the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday.
Level Global co-founder Anthony Chiasson was charged and convicted of insider trading but the conviction was overturned in 2014.
Ganek was never charged, but the negative publicity from the raid — and the client redemption requests that followed — forced the firm to shut down in four months later.
“This is a dangerous day for private citizens and a great day for ambitious, attention-seeking prosecutors who are now being rewarded with total immunity even when they lie and leak,” Ganek said in a statement Tuesday.
Bharara declined to comment on the decision but appeared to celebrate it on Twitter.
“Appeals court unanimously dismisses every aspect of hedge funder David Ganek’s baseless lawsuit against me and 14 other public servants,” Bharara tweeted moments after the ruling was revealed.