U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday arrested an employee of an "expert networking firm" on charges that he promoted the firm's services by arranging for corporate executives to leak inside information to hedge funds.

According to a complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors claimed that Don Ching Trang Chu, also known as Don Chu, who worked at California-based Primary Global Research, had arranged for hedge funds to get tips on companies including Atheros Communications Inc, Broadcom Corp and Sierra Wireless Inc.

The arrest comes amid a wide-ranging probe by U.S. authorities into potential insider trading at hedge funds, mutual funds and expert networks.

Chu was arrested because he was scheduled to depart to Taiwan on November 28, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Chu's lawyer,Jeffrey Plotkin, could not immediately be reached for comment.