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Messy Divorce Leads to Whistleblower Bounty

By Douglas S. Malan
October 28, 2010

A computer hard drive transformed Karen Zilkha v. David Zilkha from a messy divorce case into an insider trading investigation that led to the downfall of a major hedge fund.

Southbury, CT, resident Karen Kaiser (her remarried name) made headlines in July when the federal government gave her a $1 million whistleblower bounty for finding evidence allegedly implicating her ex-husband and his former employer, Westport, CT-based Pequot Capital Management Inc. But less has been written about the emotionally charged child custody battle that led to the discovery of computer files, the continuing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the two attorneys who aided Kaiser.

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