Sandeep Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of e-commerce marketplace ShopClues.com, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on insider trading charges.

Aggarwal, who was working as an analyst at US-based Collins Stewart prior to starting the dotcom venture was arrested and charged for leaking non-public information to a former SAC Capital portfolio manager.

Aggarwal, who was arrested and questioned by FBI on Tuesday in San Jose, California, is out on bail and his hearings will start from August 2 at the New York Court, sources close to the developments told Business Line .

He is accused by the FBI of leaking confidential deal talk between Microsoft and Yahoo! to former SAC Capital portfolio manager Richard Lee in July 2009. It has been alleged that based on Aggarwal’s information Lee purchased several shares of Yahoo! for his SAC portfolio, including 25,000 shares for his personal trading account.

To limit the impact on business, ShopClues on Wednesday said the company remains fully committed to its future plans and expects to maintain the current growth momentum.

“We shall continue to provide best-in-class service to our customers, merchants and all stakeholders. ShopClues continues to register growth and the company is processing close to 10,000 orders daily or run-rate of around 3.5 million orders per annum,” Sanjay Sethi, Co-Founder of the company, said.

Aggarwal has also denied having any ‘inside information’ and claimed that his source was a person who had been retired from Microsoft for two years. According to sources, Aggarwal also said it was his job to give guidance to such investment plans by others as an analyst.

“Sandeep is fully cooperating with the investigating agencies and has complete faith in the US judicial system. The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” Sanjay Sethi said.

> ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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