Raj Rajaratnam, billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a major hedge fund, is led in handcuffs from FBI headquarters in New York. Photo / AP

Raj Rajaratnam, billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a major hedge fund, is led in handcuffs from FBI headquarters in New York. Photo / AP

NEW YORK — A billionaire hedge fund manager charged in an insider trading case asked that his bail be reduced from $100 million to $25 million, noting that even Bernard Madoff's bail was only $10 million after he confessed to a multibillion-dollar fraud.

Attorney John Dowd said Sri Lanka-born Raj Rajaratnam, one of the richest men in America, was subjected to "onerous conditions" of bail even though he faces no more than 10 years in prison if he is convicted.

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges.

Forbes magazine ranked Rajaratnam No. 559 this year among the world's wealthiest billionaires, with a $1.3 billion net worth.

In a letter to a magistrate judge in US District Court in Manhattan, Dowd asked for the elimination of a requirement that Rajaratnam's travel be limited to 175 kilometres of New York.

Rajaratnam, born in Sri Lanka, has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years.

He lives in a $17.5 million New York City apartment with his wife of 21 years and his three children, two of whom attend city schools and a third who attends a US college.

Rajaratnam also owns a $10.5 million Connecticut home and a $1.4 million Florida condominium.

Dowd said that the bail for Rajaratnam overlooked his strong ties to the United States and to his family.

"Mr Rajaratnam's loyalty to his family is deep-seated, and he comes from a culture in which commitment to one's family is of sacred importance," Dowd wrote.

"Mr Rajaratnam could not even conceive of abandoning his dependent family."

"Far from intending to flee, Mr Rajaratnam looks forward to defending himself and correcting the mistaken and unwarranted allegations against him," Dowd said.

The lawyer criticized the government for portraying Rajaratnam's plans to travel to London the day of his arrest as sinister, saying he had planned to attend the London Film Festival, where a film he had helped finance was being screened.

He said he then planned to fly to Geneva with his wife, who wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday in the city where he proposed to her.