Goldman managing director in insider trading probe leaves bank

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Goldman Sachs Group Inc salesman under investigation for possibly passing confidential information about technology companies to hedge funds has left the bank, a spokesman confirmed on Monday.

David Loeb, 42, a managing director based in New York, has never been charged with wrongdoing. But his name surfaced among a small group of Goldman bankers under scrutiny in connection with an insider trading probe being conducted by the FBI.

During last year's trial of Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman board member who was convicted of passing nonpublic information about Goldman's financial state to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, defense lawyers said it was Loeb, not Gupta, who gave Rajaratnam the secret information.

A U.S. prosecutor told the judge during the trial that Loeb provided Rajaratnam with information about Intel Corp , Apple Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co , but nothing about information on the trades at the center of the Gupta case.

Loeb did not respond to a call seeking a comment.

A source familiar with the investigation said it was unlikely under present conditions that Loeb would face criminal charges. The source said there were no new recent developments in his case.

(Additional reporting by Katya Wachtel; Editing by David Gregorio)