Prosecutors are examining whether Goldman Sachs Group director Rajat Gupta gave inside information about the Wall Street bank to Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people close to the situation.

Mr. Gupta is unaware of any examination of any such issue and has done nothing wrong, a spokeswoman for Gupta said in a statement responding to the report.

Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty to criminal insider trading charges. He faces a related civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a March 22 letter made public last week, the government said it was examining trades by Rajaratnam and others in shares of several companies, as part of a wide-ranging insider trading probe.

Among these companies is Goldman , where trades between June 2008 and October 2008 were being examined. The bank's shares traded between $74 and $187 over that time.

Citing the people close to the situation, the Journal said the government was examining whether Gupta shared inside information about Goldman, and gave it to Rajaratnam during the height of the financial crisis.

It characterized Gupta, who used to run consultancy McKinsey & Co, as a close associate of Rajaratnam.

A spokesman for Goldman declined to comment, while a spokesman for Rajaratnam did not immediately return a call.

In late September 2008, Goldman won a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc .

Goldman said last month that Gupta was not standing for re-election to its board.

(Reporting by Steve Eder and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Ted Kerr)

Raj Rajaratnam Goldman sachs Insider trading