NY testimony: Payments for inside tips were hidden

(AP) An ex-analyst has testified for the government at a New York insider trading trial that payments for inside information were funneled through the spouse of a corrupt analyst.

Ex-analyst Jesse Tortora testified Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan. He says a hedge fund went to great lengths to hide tens of thousands of dollars paid to the wife of a technology analyst for work she never did.

Tortora testified at the trial of two hedge fund managers that the wife was paid to hide the efforts of an analyst who was passing along inside information about Dell Inc. Prosecutors say those tips resulted in more than $50 million in illegal profits.

The case is part of the government's crackdown on stock secrets being passed along as legitimate research.