Ali Hariri, a former executive at Atheros Communications, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy and securities fraud in what federal prosecutors call the largest hedge fund inside trading case in history. It is one in a series of guilty pleas through which prosecutors are trying to draw a net around Raj Rajaratnam, founder and operator of the Galleon Hedge Fund.

Hariri admitted he tipped off a co-conspirator to Atheros' earnings report. The co-conspirator then bought more than half a million shares of Atheros before the public announcement sent the share price up by 6 percent. The co-conspirator made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trades.

Hariri, 38, of San Francisco, faces a maximum of 25 years in prison at his June 10 sentencing.

Airgas Inc urged its shareholders on Monday to reject a $5.1 billion tender offer from larger rival Air Products & Chemicals Inc, arguing the offer substantially undervalues the industrial gas supplier.

The move was widely expected, and Airgas investors now have until April 9 to formally consider Air Products's $60-per-share cash offer.

However even if a majority of Airgas shareholders sell their shares, the Airgas board still has a "poison pill" in place to keep any one party from acquiring too large a stake.

Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Air Products took the bid hostile earlier this month by launching the tender after being privately rejected twice by Airgas's board.

If successful, Air Products would become the biggest industrial gas company in North America, allowing Air Products to gain substantial benefits from the economy's resurgence after the recession abates.

The founder of the failed Wild West World theme park, Thomas Etheredge was found guilty on seven of nine counts of securities fraud.

Etheredge, 55, maintained that he provided enough information about his past, in publishing the book, “Real Men, Real Faith”. In 1987, Etheredge was convicted on nine counts of securities fraud.

However, the prosecution insisted that the book lulled investors into a false sense of security.

During the trial, Etheredge testified that in spite of budgeting correctly, poor weather and construction cost overruns caused the park’s failure.

The jury spent nearly two days in deliberation before reaching their verdict. The two counts where Etheredge was found not guilty involved investors that sought out Etheredge.

A former executive at the New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund pleaded guilty on Wednesday to an insider trading conspiracy that also ensnared Galleon fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, but he is not cooperating with the investigation.

The executive, Mark Kurland, 61, is the eighth person to plead guilty in Manhattan federal court in the probe of illegal trading involving the earnings forecasts and mergers and acquisitions of some of America's best-known companies.

At New Castle, Kurland was a colleague of Danielle Chiesi, 44, who was indicted along with Rajaratnam last month. Rajaratnam and Chiesi have pleaded not guilty to the charges. All three were arrested on October 16 last year.

U.S. prosecutors said that recorded telephone conversations between Rajaratnam and Chiesi revealed that Rajaratnam, Kurland, Chiesi and a cooperating witness received information directly or indirectly from insiders and provided it to each other for trading purposes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday sued the former head of a defunct Pittsburgh-area medical staffing company, claiming he led a stock fraud and misappropriated $6.4 million by lying about the company's finances.

The SEC sued Richard McDonald, who had already been charged by federal prosecutors, and three other former executives at World Health Alternatives Inc.

"A key aspect of the fraud involved the manipulation of World Health's accounting entries," the lawsuit reads. "This made the company appear more financially sound and masked McDonald's misappropriation of funds."

McDonald, 35, of Gilpin Township, was indicted in August in a wide-ranging fraud that federal prosecutors say has cost investors more than $200 million.

According to that 20-count grand jury indictment, McDonald allegedly diverted funds from World Health while president and chief executive officer from 2003 to 2005. McDonald is also accused of failing to pay some $2.3 million in federal taxes withheld from employee payroll checks and with evading his own federal taxes.

McDonald has an unlisted phone and his criminal defense attorney, William C. Kaczynski, said he doesn't represent McDonald in the SEC matter and doesn't know if anyone else does. Kaczynski relayed a request for comment to McDonald, who did not immediately respond Wednesday.

Federal regulators have notified Beazer Homes USA Inc. that its top executive could face civil charges over incentive compensation.

The notification comes more than a year after the Atlanta-based homebuilder settled a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its financial statements.

Beazer Homes said in a regulatory filing Monday that SEC staff issued a so-called Wells notice to CEO Ian McCarthy. That means the staff intends to recommend civil charges against McCarthy for possible securities violations. Recipients of the notices can respond to the allegations before the commission decides on any enforcement action.

Beazer said McCarthy intends to respond to the notice, which is not a formal allegation nor a finding of wrongdoing.

Beazer said the SEC staff recommended action against McCarthy "to collect certain incentive compensation and other amounts allegedly due" under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The company's filing did not disclose how much compensation is involved, or other details about the disputed pay.