I just read an NY Times update on the guilty verdict against Raj Rajaratnam, a billionaire investor accused of fraud and conspiracy. Rajaratnam managed a Galleon Group hedge fund, at one point managing more than $7 billion in assets.

The article mentions additional defendants identified as involved in insider trading along with Rajaratnam:

"The case has led to insider trading charges against 25 defendants – 21 of whom have pleaded guilty – including former executives at I.B.M., Intel and Bear Stearns."

It makes you wonder how many other executives are, or have been, playing the insider trading game. How many people out there are making money by cheating, rather than through savvy investing? How many of those insider traders were already millionaires and billionaires, but just got greedy and wanted more?

I’ve always found it interesting how people rationalize themselves into fraud, especially when they already have so much. From having a good job where you justify stealing a few thousand dollars every now and then to pay for christmas presents or a birthday parting, to having a top executive position with a million-dollar salary but selling insider information to a trader like Raj for that much more money.

What do you think makes people get involved with this? Greed? Overextending their finances, even with such a high salary? Simply convincing themselves that it’s not a crime and that they’re not hurting anyone?