Insider Trading

Insider Trading: SAC Capital Advisors Settles with Investors, Former Portfolio Manager Seeks New Trial, and Jury Convicts Ex- MLB Player

Published on: May 12, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-SAC Capital Advisors LP Portfolio manager Mathew Martoma is asking for another trial. Martoma is serving nine years behind bars after he was convicted for insider trading in Wyeth LLC and Elan Corp. stock based on illegal tips and making $275M in the process. He believes his conviction should be overturned because of a ruling issued by the US Supreme Court last year.

The Supreme Court case involved a man accused of engaging in insider trading after his brother-in-law, a former Citigroup (C) investment banker, gave him the illegal tip. The nation’s highest court upheld the conviction against Bassam Salman in a unanimous ruling. The justices said that a person could be convicted for sharing insider tips with a friend or relative regardless of whether or not there was a profit for the tipper.

Martoma is accused of obtaining confidential information from two physicians involved in clinical trials for an Alzheimer’s drug. His defense attorney is contending that the prosecution did not bring enough evidence to demonstrate that the person who tipped Martoma shared the information because he was paid money. The lawyer also claims that instructions the jurors received were flawed because they allowed for a conviction on the grounds of the promise that the tipper was motivated by the possibility of friendship instead of because of a preexisting personal connection. Prosecutors are arguing that the financial relationship between Martoma and one of the physicians, who testified that he was paid $1K/hour for consulting with Martoma, was sufficient to support the earlier conviction.

SEC Insider Trading Cases Lead to Civil Charges, Frozen Brokerage Accounts, and Restitution

Published on: April 27, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In a Securities and Exchange Commission case linked to parallel criminal charges, the regulator has filed insider trading charges against Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy, the risk management VP of a New York-based investment bank. Krishnamoorthy is accused of trading on confidential information prior to the acquisition of a publicly-traded tech company by a private equity firm. He allegedly made about $48K in illicit profits. Also charged as a relief defendant is his wife Shreya Achar.

According to the SEC, Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy began trading in Neustar Securities after learning that Golden Gate Capital was going to buy the company. He used two brokerage accounts that his employer didn’t know about. Golden Gate Capital had approached the investment bank about financing the acquisition.

Meantime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has filed its own case against Krishnamoorthy. He faces one criminal securities fraud charge.

Insider Trading Cases: Ex-Oppenheimer Adviser Sentenced to Six Months, Las Vegas Sports Gambler is on Trial, and SEC Files Civil Case Against Ex-Home Security Guard

Published on: March 18, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Oppenheimer Stockbroker Pleads Guilty in Insider Trading Case
David Hobson, an ex-Oppenheimer Holdings (OPY) investment adviser, was sentenced to six months behind bars for insider trading using information provided to him by a friend who was employed with Pfizer Inc. at the time.

Hobson pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against him. He was ordered to forfeit over $385K. His friend, Michael Maciocio, reached a plea deal with prosecutors for his part last year.

Hobson started insider trading in 2008 while employed at RBC Capital Markets and he continued with his illicit activities at Oppenheimer. He was Maciocio’s stockbroker.

SEC Charges Chinese Citizens Over Alleged $29M Insider Trading Tied to Comcast-DreamWorks Acquisition

Published on: February 28, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is charging the partner of a Hong Kong-based private equity firm with securities fraud. The regulator claims that Shaohua (Michael) Yin of Summitview Capital Management Ltd. obtained over $56M of DreamWorks Animation SKG stock by using the US brokerage accounts of five Chinese nationals, including his parents.

When DreamWork’s stock price went up 47.3% after news that Comcast was acquiring it went public, the five accounts made $29M from the DreamWorks trades.

The SEC claims that Yin tried to conceal that he was in charge of the five accounts, which had addresses in Palo Alto and Beijing, but the regulator was still able to identify him as the one behind the suspect trading. Prior to becoming a partner at Summitview Capital, Yin worked for UBS (UBS) and private equity firm Warburg Pincus Asia LLC.

Securities Fraud Cases: Connecticut-Based Investment Adviser Settles Fraud Charges that Allegedly Involved Secret Referral Fees, Jefferies Bond Trader’s Second Criminal Fraud Trial is Underway, Former Barclays Trader Gets 5-Month Prison Term in Insider Case

Published on: January 11, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investment Adviser Settles SEC Case for $575K
John W. Rafal, a Connecticut-based investment adviser, has agreed to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges for $575K. As part of the settlement, Rafal is admitting wrongdoing in a civil case that accuses him of bilking a client and then trying to mislead the SEC while lying to other clients about the regulator’s probe.

The SEC said that Rafal paid attorney Peter D. Hershman in secret for referring one of his client’s to Essex Financial Services, which is the firm that Rafal founded. He is no longer affiliated with Essex. Rather than disclose the referral deal to the older widow who was that client, Rafal and Hershman concealed the payments as “legal fees.” Even after Essex officers found out about and stopped the referral arrangement, the deal between the two men continued in secret. The SEC also said that Rafal responded to rumors that he had violated a securities law by emailing his clients and falsely stating that the regulator’s probe had been resolved. He also purportedly tried persuading the Commission that his arrangement with Hershing was over.

Essex Financial Services will pay $180K in disgorgement and interest to resolve charges connected to Rafal’s wrongful behavior. Herhsman will pay over $90K to resolve the civil charges accusing him of aiding and abetting the violations committed by Rafal. The two men agreed to a securities industry bar and from serving in the roles of director or officer for any publicly traded company. They also are no longer allowed to represent clients regarding SEC matters.

SEC Cases: IT Specialist Settles Insider Trading Charges For Over $375K, San Francisco Firm Pays $80K for Unregistered Swaps Sales Involving Pre-IPO Companies, and EB-5 Fraud Cases Lead to Settlement for Florida Businessman and Civil Charges For California Lawyer

Published on: December 31, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

IT Specialist Accused of Hacking Expedia Executives and Insider Trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil insider trading charges against Jonathan Ly, who worked as a technology specialist for online travel company Expedia. According to the regulator, Ly hacked senior company executives and traded on company secrets ahead of nine announcements between 2013 and 2016.

As a result of his alleged insider trading, Lyn made almost $350K in profits. To settle the SEC case against him, Ly will pay over $348K of disgorgement and more than $27K in interest. This is a deal that still has to be subject to court approval.

Meantime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington has filed parallel criminal charges against Ly.

US Supreme Court Issues Ruling that Impacts The Definition of Insider Trading

Published on: December 6, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court justices ruled that prosecutors in insider trading cases don’t always have to demonstrate that something of value was exchanged to prove that the crime happened. The court’s ruling comes two years after another decision, in United States v. Newman, raised questions regarding what comprises insider-trading. That decision led to the dismissal of a number of insider trading cases.

This week, however, in Salman v. United States, the nation’s highest court gave the government back some of the power it lost in the earlier federal court case. The justices’ opinion upheld the prosecution of Bassam Salman, a man convicted of insider trading.

Salman admitted to trading on the information given to him by his brother-in-law Maher Kara, a Citigroup (C) investment banker. Prosecutors accused him of making $1.5M by trading on tips about biomedical company acquisitions involving Citigroup clients.

SAC Capital Advisers Concludes Final Insider Trading Case By Agreeing to Pay $135M to Elan Corp. Investors

Published on: November 29, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Stephen A. Cohen and SAC Capital will pay a group of Elan Corp. investors $135M to settle their insider trading case against him and the firm. The plaintiffs had contended that sustained they financial losses because of insider trading that involved Elan shares. A judge still has to approve the settlement.

Ex-SAC Capital money manager Mathew Martoma was convicted two years ago for making $285M for SAC Capital on trades involving Elan and Wyeth, both pharmaceutical companies. He used insider information about the clinical trials of an Alzheimer’s drug that companies were developing together. Martoma is appealing his conviction while serving a 9-year prison sentence.

Although Cohen was not charged with insider trading, his firm pleaded guilty and consented to pay $1.8B in criminal and civil penalties. SAC Capital also changed its name to Point72 Asset Management LP. Cohen, meantime, went from managing other people’s money to only being allowed to oversee his multibillion-dollar fortune.

Ex-Oppenheimer Broker Pleads Guilty in Insider Trading Case

Published on: October 25, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

David Hobson, an ex-Oppenheimer & Co (OPY) investment adviser, has pleaded guilty to the criminal charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The 47-year-old Rhode Island broker admitted that he engaged in insider trading using information given to him by investment client Michael Maciocio in order to make illegal profits. Maciocio has already pleaded guilty to the charges in the insider trading case against him.

According to Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, between 5/2008 to 4/2014 Hobson and Maciocio sought to trade on insider information regarding acquisitions that a particular pharmaceutical company was considering. Although Bharara’s release doesn’t name the company, Law360 identified the company as Pfizer Inc. Bharara said that Maciocio, who was master planner in Pfizer’s active pharmaceutical ingredient supply chain group, would find out about the upcoming acquisitions and tip Hobson.

Bharara’s statement said that even though Maciocio was not given access to the acquisitions that the pharmaceutical company was targeting, he would use the code name of the acquisition, the drug indication, the dose, the clinical trial phase, and/or the drug’s chemical structure to find out the name of the company that Pfizer was considering acquiring. Maciocio would trade based on this information and share the information with Hobson. The two men have been friends since childhood.

Artis Capital Management Accused of Not Preventing $6M Insider Trading

Published on: October 17, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A San Francisco-based hedge fund advisory firm has agreed to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges alleging its failure to notice that one its employees was engaged in insider trading. Artis Capital Management will disgorge the more than $5.1M in illicit rating profits made by employee Matthew G. Teeple for the firm plus over $1.1M of interest. The hedge fund firm will also pay a more than $2.5M penalty.

According to the regulator, Artis Capital did not maintain policies and procedures adequate enough to prevent insider trading from taking place at the firm. The Commission contends that Teeple’s supervisor, Michael W. Harden, did not respond as needed when red flags arose to indicate that Teeple was engaging in wrongful behavior.

To settle the SEC charges against him, Harden will pay a $130K penalty and serve a 1-year suspension from the securities industry. He and Artis Capital consented to the regulator’s order. However, they did not deny or admit to the Commission’s findings.