Ex-Assent LLC Broker Pleads Guilty to Concealing Insider Trading Activities

In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 10, ex-Assent LLC registered broker Samuel Childs pled guilty to a conspiracy charge to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and commercial bribery for agreeing to receive $100,000 in exchange for concealing insider trading activities from Assent senior executives. In court, Childs, 35, announced that he was 100% guilty.

This case is part of a broader criminal probe involving 13 people that have pled guilty to a massive insider trading scheme involving data they acquired from Wall Street brokerage companies. Defendants included ex-employees from Morgan Stanley, UBS AG, Bear Stearns Co, and Bank of America Corp.

The Justice Department says that one of the defendants, former UBS Securities executive Mitchel Guttenburg, had sold nonpublic data prepared by UBS stock analysts to another defendant, trader David Tavdy.

Tavdy and David Glass, also a defendant, then used an Assent account to execute trades and earn illegal profits. Data regarding UBS analysts’ upgrades and downgrades were used for hundreds of transactions that netted over $17.5 million.

Childs found out about their illegal activities and agreed to receive $100,000 in exchange for not reporting them. He had received just $30,000 before his arrest.

Childs’s sentencing will take place in July. As part of his plea agreement, he will likely face up to two years in prison and be ordered to give up the $30,000.

If you believe that you have been the victim of securities fraud, contact the stockbroker fraud law firm of Shepherd Smith and Edwards for your free consultation to discuss your investor fraud case.

Related Web Resources:

A 13th Plea in Insider Case, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Trading on Tips About UBS Research Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades and About Morgan Stanley Client Merger Deals Netted Defendants More than $8 million, New York.FBI.gov, March 1, 2007
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