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Ex-Perella Weinberg Partners Managing Director is Convicted of Insider Trading, Giving Tips to His Dad
A jury has Sean Stewart, the ex-managing director of Perella Weinberg Partners LP of insider trading. Stewart is accused of giving his dad confidential tips about five health-care deals.
According to prosecutors, Stewart started giving his dad insider information in 2011 while he was VP of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s (JPM) healthcare investment banking group. He continued to tip his dad when he went to work for Perella. As a result of the insider information, Stewart’s dad, Robert Stewart, and Richard Cunniffe made over $1M in illegal profits. The elder Stewart has already pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
During the trial, the younger Stewart testified that his dad had betrayed him by using the information that he had shared with him during casual conversation. He testified that he lied to compliance lawyers at JPMorgan in 2011 to protect his reputation and his father. He claimed that he never thought that his dad would use the information to make trades.
Robert has already been sentenced to four years of probation for his role after pleading guilty to securities fraud. Also, he had to forfeit $150K in ill-gotten gains. The elder Stewart shared the tips he received from his son with two others, including Cunniffee, who testified that they used the tips to buy stock options. Cunniffee had earlier pleaded guilty to insider trading.