Former Foundry Networks exec found guilty of insider trading

A former Foundry Networks executive was found guilty of leaking insider tips about the $3 billion takeover of the company and helping traders reap $27 million in profits.

David Riley, a former chief information officer for the computer parts company, was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury Thursday on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

A mistrial was declared on a fourth fraud count on which jurors deadlocked.

Riley, 48, tipped off a friend who worked as an analyst for multiple hedge funds that Foundry was about to get acquired by rival Brocade, prosecutors charged.

Jurors weren’t able to agree that Riley had committed another count of securities fraud for telling the friend, Matthew Teeple, that Brocade was having trouble securing a loan to complete the acquisition in October 2008.

The conviction is another win for Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, whose track record on insider trading cases was unblemished until recently.

In July, Preet’s office was handed its first loss when Rengan Rajaratnam, the younger brother of convicted Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, was acquitted of insider trading charges.

“As the jury unanimously found, David Riley exploited his position and access to information at Foundry Networks,” Bharara said in a statement.

Bharara’s office also took the opportunity to tout it nearly perfect record, noting that Riley is “the 87th defendant convicted of insider trading after trial or by guilty plea in this District in the last five years.”

Riley’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6. He plans to appeal the verdict, according to attorney John Kaley.

“Our point was that the evidence was insufficient on all the counts, not just to single out October,” Kaley told The Post. “We’re disappointed in the verdict.”

Teeple pleaded guilty in May 2008. His sentencing is set for later this month.