NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — The US Securities and Exchange Commission asked a judge to order Galleon Group LLC founder Raj Rajaratnam to share wiretap recordings that his lawyers got from federal prosecutors.

The agency is scheduled to begin a trial in a civil lawsuit against Rajaratnam on August 2 over allegations of insider trading. Prosecutors have indicted Rajaratnam on criminal charges as well.

As part of the criminal case, prosecutors provided the defence with 14,000 wiretap intercepts of Rajaratnam and others. Because the SEC faces legal hurdles in obtaining the information from prosecutors, the agency is seeking it from Rajaratnam and his co-defendant, Danielle Chiesi, a New Castle Funds LLC executive.

"Defendants have the wiretap information; the commission does not," SEC lawyer Valerie Szczepanik said in a January 20, 2010, letter filed in court yesterday. "It would be highly inequitable and inconsistent with the federal rules to permit this case to be tried while defendants possess such an informational advantage."

At a hearing yesterday in New York, US District Judge Jed Rakoff, who is presiding over the SEC's civil case, said he would rule next week on the agency's request. Separately, the judge said the SEC may file a new complaint with recently disclosed allegations about Rajaratnam.