NEW YORK – Bail of more than $500,000 was set Wednesday for a California woman accused of feeding inside information about technology companies to hedge funds, making it likely that she will be freed before trial despite the government’s insistence that she will flee to her native Taiwan.

Winifred Jiau, 43, has been in custody since her arrest Dec. 27 in the government’s crackdown on specialists in the financial industry who supposedly provide inside information about companies to hedge funds and pass it off as legitimate research.

Jiau, who pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges, is among a dozen people charged in the ongoing investigation.

U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson agreed to the bail only after she had pledged to turn over the deed to a $25,000 stretch of land and provide $50,000 in cash to go along with $500,000 in cash and property being posted by three friends.

She will be required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and mostly remain in her Fremont, Calif., home under terms of the bail.

She will not be released until all bail conditions are met.

Prosecutors say Jiau earned $200,000 during a two-year span when she provided the inside information while she worked as a consultant for Primary Global Research in Mountain View, Calif.