Look Out, Wall Street: Feds Using Wiretaps Now

The bad boys of Wall Street better watch their mouths. Federal prosecutors used wiretaps to make their case against hedge fund giant Raj Rajaratnam this week, and they plan to use them again in similar investigations. Wiretaps may be common when going after the mafia, say, or terrorists, but their use in the Rajaratnam case is "unprecedented," says the US attorney with jurisdiction over Wall Street's biggest players.

“What’s very unusual is that the case is built on wiretaps,” a former federal prosecutor tells Bloomberg. “You need very specific and timely evidence of criminal activity before a judge is going to let you go up on a wiretap.” (More Raj Rajaratnam stories.)