NEW YORK—The U.S. Department of Justice arrested four individuals on Thursday on allegations of insider trading on information surrounding technology companies including Apple Inc., Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), and Dell Inc.
The four people—three technology company executives and one salesperson—were arrested on Thursday for leaking insider information regarding companies’ product launches, financial results, and other confidential information to unnamed hedge funds.
The case is part of a widening national investigation of several hedge funds, which culminated in last month’s federal raid on hedge funds Diamonback Capital Manangement in Stamford, Conn., Level Global Investors based in New York, and Loch Capital Management based in Boston.
“Today’s charges allege that a corrupt network of insiders at some of the world’s leading technology companies served as so-called ‘consultants’ who sold out their employers by stealing and then peddling their valuable inside information,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.
Three technology firm employees, named by the FBI, were Walter Shimoon from Flextronics, Mark Longoria from AMD, and Manosha Karunatilaka, 37, from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Forty-one year old sales manager James Fleischman, who worked for an unidentified “expert networking” firm in California, was also arrested. According to the Department of Justice, the three employees of technology firms named above were hired as “consultants” by Fleischman’s firm to allegedly pass on information to hedge funds, which used the information to gain an unfair advantage in making stock-trading decisions.
“The information trafficked by the four ‘consultants’ went way beyond permissible market research; it was insider information. And the fifth defendant was directly involved in the transfer of inside information from the consultants to hedge funds and other end users,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk in a statement.
The government said that Shimoon, who worked at Apple supplier Flextronics, leaked confidential, insider information surrounding the release of Apple’s iPad tablet computer as well as the iPhone 4 released this summer.
Earlier this month, on Dec. 10, Former Dell employee Daniel Devore pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud in a related case.
The four people—three technology company executives and one salesperson—were arrested on Thursday for leaking insider information regarding companies’ product launches, financial results, and other confidential information to unnamed hedge funds.
The case is part of a widening national investigation of several hedge funds, which culminated in last month’s federal raid on hedge funds Diamonback Capital Manangement in Stamford, Conn., Level Global Investors based in New York, and Loch Capital Management based in Boston.
“Today’s charges allege that a corrupt network of insiders at some of the world’s leading technology companies served as so-called ‘consultants’ who sold out their employers by stealing and then peddling their valuable inside information,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.
Three technology firm employees, named by the FBI, were Walter Shimoon from Flextronics, Mark Longoria from AMD, and Manosha Karunatilaka, 37, from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Forty-one year old sales manager James Fleischman, who worked for an unidentified “expert networking” firm in California, was also arrested. According to the Department of Justice, the three employees of technology firms named above were hired as “consultants” by Fleischman’s firm to allegedly pass on information to hedge funds, which used the information to gain an unfair advantage in making stock-trading decisions.
“The information trafficked by the four ‘consultants’ went way beyond permissible market research; it was insider information. And the fifth defendant was directly involved in the transfer of inside information from the consultants to hedge funds and other end users,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk in a statement.
The government said that Shimoon, who worked at Apple supplier Flextronics, leaked confidential, insider information surrounding the release of Apple’s iPad tablet computer as well as the iPhone 4 released this summer.
Earlier this month, on Dec. 10, Former Dell employee Daniel Devore pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud in a related case.
