A former chief executive of microchip company Advanced Micro Devices has been linked to an alleged insider trading ring at hedge fund Galleon Group. Hector Ruiz, who headed AMD from 2002 to 2008, has been identified by the Wall Street Journal as an unnamed "AMD executive" cited by US authorities as the source of inside information used by Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam, who is facing 13 charges of fraud and conspiracy. The AMD executive in question, according to a complaint filed by the US justice department, tipped off fund manager Danielle Chiesi about a 2008 reorganisation at AMD.

 

The tip was then allegedly passed on by Chiesi to Rajaratnam. The AMD executive, although mentioned in court documents, is not facing charges.
 

Chiesi and Rajaratnam were among six people arrested earlier this month and charged with fraud, following a lengthy investigation by federal authorities using phone-tapping.
 

Rajaratnam is accused of making more than $20m through unlawful trades on inside information. Others charged included a senior vice-president of IBM, Robert Moffat, and an Intel executive, Rajiv Goel.
 

There was no immediate comment from Ruiz or from Globalfoundries, a semiconductor spin-off from AMD which he now chairs. AMD would only say that it was "thoroughly reviewing" the allegations.
 

"We are not aware of any allegation of criminal misconduct on the part of any current or former AMD employees, nor have any current or former AMD employees been charged with a crime," said AMD.
 

A trained engineer, Ruiz, 63, worked at Motorola before joining AMD. Under the Bush administration, he served on the president's council of advisors for science and technology.
 

He is one of very few Hispanic people to have run a major US corporation. According to a profile compiled by Rice University, where he was appointed a trustee two years ago, Ruiz was born in a Mexican border town and did housework in return for English lessons as a teenager. He used to walk across the US border each day to go to a high school in Texas.
 

Both Chiesi and Rajaratnam have denied any wrongdoing.