insider trading
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Ex-OpenSea employee receives prison sentence for NFT insider trading
A former OpenSea employee has been sentenced to three months in prison over an NFT insider trading scheme. Nathanial Chastain used "confidential information about which NFTs were going to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage for his personal financial gain."
Former Coinbase employee pleads guilty to insider trading charges
Ishan Wahi faces a prison sentence of between 36 and 47 months as part of his plea deal.
US files its first criminal charges over insider trading of cryptocurrency
The US has charged three people with insider trading of cryptocurrency, including a former Coinbase worker.
Man charged for allegedly selling insider trading tips on the dark web
Apostolos Trovias faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of money laundering and securities fraud.
SEC charges IT administrator over $7 million insider trading ring
Insider trading among tech companies is nothing new, but some of these unscrupulous workers are more 'successful' than others. The SEC has charged former Palo Alto Networks IT administrator Janardhan Nellore and four friends with conducting insider trading that earned the group over $7 million between 2015 and 2018. Allegedly, Nellore exploited his "IT credentials and work contacts" to access his company's financial data and make illegal share trades. The group was also aware it might be tracked -- Nellore reportedly had the group use variants of the codeword "baby" in emails and texts to refer to the company stock, and the friends made small transactions to avoid tipping off the bank.
Apple's former insider trading watchdog indicted for... insider trading
A former Apple lawyer who oversaw the company's insider trading policy has been indicted on insider trading charges. Prosecutors allege Gene Levoff traded shares based on his knowledge of Apple's financial results before they were made public.
Feds charge nine hackers for $30M insider trading scheme
The Wall Street Journal reports that federal prosecutors are set to unseal charges Tuesday against nine hackers and stock traders involved in an insider trading operation that netted more than $30 million on illicit deals. The group to be charged allegedly had been conducting sophisticated cyber-attacks against newswire services in order to steal upcoming merger and acquisition information that had been uploaded to the newswire's servers -- but not yet published -- and position their investments accordingly. The group was discovered after a multi-agency investigation involving the DHS, FBI, SEC and the Secret Service.
Acer spokesperson questioned over insider trading allegations
Between the 30 percent pay cut, losing $700 million and hiring and firing two CEOs in 15 days, it's not been a great time to be an Acer executive. As if things couldn't get any worse, the company is now subject to an insider trading probe that has seen long-time spokesperson Henry Wang detained for up to two months. Taiwanese authorities raided 14 locations on Tuesday, including the company's headquarters and some employee's homes. Acer has announced that it is cooperating with the police to examine two employees' individual mis-deeds, but wouldn't name and shame 'em at this time. When it rains, it pours, eh?
CEO Ole Schreiner on Funcom's future and that police investigation
Funcom CEO Ole Schreiner recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz in a lengthy interview that covers everything from the performance of The Secret World to the future of the company to the recent Økokrim raid. The police action has to do with former CEO Trond Arne Aas and accusations of insider trading relating to The Secret World's launch. "What we know is actually very little and the few things we do know, we can't talk about because it's an ongoing case," Schreiner says. "The charges are two-fold. The first is that Funcom, between August 2011 and August 2012, manipulated the market. The other is that we had wrongfully filed insider information." It's not all gloom-and-doom going forward, though, as Funcom has gotten the Dreamworld tech behind Age of Conan and The Secret World to work on consoles, Android, and iOS devices. "It's not so much about the technology as the knowledge, which we've been building for 13 years," Schreiner explains. "It's a platform -- it has all the elements you need to make, run, and maintain a game from the production tools right down to the customer service and QA tools." Schreiner is also optimistic about Funcom's future, which is currently focused on LEGO Minifigures Online. "This new strategy is a natural evolution of the company," he states. "We would have taken this path anyway, no matter how The Secret World turned out."
Former Funcom CEO investigated for insider trading
Trond Arne Aas, who stepped down as CEO of Funcom the day before The Secret World launched, is back in the spotlight. Norwegian authorities are investigating Aas for allegations of insider trading. An anonymous source reported to The Escapist that Aas' position change to a chief strategy advisor allowed him to attempt to sell off company stock without attracting scrutiny. As of press time, 650,000 of his 1.5 million shares have successfully sold. Stocks were valued at $17.60 a share when the game launched on July 2nd, but were worth $2.17 as of yesterday. Investigators are questioning whether Aas sold his stocks based on insider knowledge or if it was just coincidental timing.
Zynga hit with insider trading lawsuit as execs cash out before crash
Zynga has been hit with the first of five expected lawsuits alleging a handful of top executives and investors engaged in insider trading – including CEO Marc Pincus and Google. Following Zynga's IPO in December, employees and investors were "locked up," unable to sell their shares until May 28. Technically. A group of top executives and shareholders hired underwriters to manage the sale of their shares, creating a loophole that allowed them to sell their stock at $12.By May 28, when initial investors were legally allowed to sell their shares, Zynga stock had fallen to $6. Yesterday, it struck $3. Locked up investors had no opportunity to sell their shares at the same price as the top brass, and the insiders that did "cashed out at exactly the right time," Business Insider's Henry Blodget writes.
EA files trademark application for 'Prison Kings'
EA has filed two trademark applications for "Prison Kings," one filing for an "online computer game" and the other for "downloadable computer-game software." This can mean only one of two things: EA holds stock in the American prison system and is building a new game based on the hard-knock life of incarcerated thugs, thereby glorifying the prison lifestyle and creating a new generation of career inmates, securing its investment for decades. Or, "Prison Kings" will be a pretty lame Facebook game. These are the only options.
Former Apple supplier exec pleads guilty to leaking iPhone details
Former Flextronics employee Walter Shimoon pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and security fraud. Shimoon leaked information about upcoming Apple products to hedge fund traders in late 2009. He is one of 11 people who have admitted their guilt after the government's crackdown on insider trading. Mr Shimoon and the others were industry experts who worked with Wall Street analysts and managers. The government alleges this relationship got too cozy and the information shared between the two groups crossed the line from "permissible market research" to insider trading. Mr Shimoon was recorded talking about the unreleased iPad (K48 codename) and iPhone as well as confidential sales information. He told a government witness, "So, you can get, at Apple you can get fired for saying K48...outside of a, you know, outside of a meeting that doesn't have K48 people in it. That's how crazy they are about it." [Via AppleInsider]
Apple secrets leaked early by inside traders, arrests reveal
We don't normally cover the "business crime" beat, but there's a pretty interesting gadget angle here. As part of a larger crack down on insider trading, three technology executives and a "salesman for an 'expert network'" have been arrested for leaking confidential tips to hedge funds. What sort of secrets, you ask? A certain executive for Flextronics, Walter Shimoon, happened to pass on information concerning an iPhone update and the iPad well before they became official (Flextronics supplied Apple parts). "At Apple you can get fired for saying K48 ... outside of a, you know, outside of a meeting that doesn't have K48 people in it. That's how crazy they are about it," he said during an October 2009 phone call intercepted by authorities, where K48 was the codename for the iPad, which didn't see the light of day until 2010 (we're assuming here that's not all he said). The others arrested hail from AMD (leaking financial details) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and a fifth person already pled guilty (a former Dell global supply manager). Remember, kids, crime doesn't pay.
Ex-AMD CEO Hector Ruiz steps down as Globalfoundries chairman amid insider trading scandal
We won't dive back into all the backstory that led to former AMD CEO Hector Ruiz's current troubles as the chairman of AMD spin-off Globalfoundries, but let's just say that when your name is in the same sentence as "insider trading scandal" and "hedge fund probe," you're probably in a pretty bad way. While this story is obviously still far from over, it looks like Ruiz has at least realized the gravity of his predicament, and announced today that he's taking a "voluntary leave of absence" before formally resigning from the company on January 4th, 2010. He'll be replaced immediately by former Broadcom CEO Alan "Lanny" Ross, who will serve as interim chairman until the company's board appoints a permanent chairman.
Ex-AMD chief Hector Ruiz caught up in insider-trading scandal
Hector Ruiz certainly led a checkered career as CEO of AMD, earning the highest CEO salary in the semiconductor industry as his company's stock dropped, its products dragged, and its fortunes sank, but the man didn't stop there -- it looks like he may also have been involved in a little illegal insider trading on the side. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ruiz is the heretofore unnamed AMD executive who illegally tipped off a hedge fund investor about the company's big spinoff of Globalfoundries, ultimately leading to criminal and civil charges against Galleon and six of its employees. Ol' Hec's currently in the clear, as he hasn't been charged with anything, but considering he's now the chairman of Globalfoundries, well, let's say things are about to get a little sticky. We'll let you know -- we've got a feeling Gizmondo's Stefan Eriksson is going to look like small potatoes when this is all over.
EVE Online player elected council rep steps down in wake of insider trading
One of the unique aspects of the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online is that it has a peer-elected council of players that represents the interests of EVE's subscribers to the title's developer CCP Games, working with them to improve the MMO. This select group of EVE Online players is called the Council of Stellar Management (CSM). No other online game in operation has anything quite like it, but that's because EVE Online is one of the few games where something like this would even work. Given the scope of interactions that happen in EVE's single shard setting of thousands of solar systems where player actions have the potential to affect others in the game, it comes as no surprise that players can take the game very seriously. They form military and political alliances to conquer and hold regions of space. Players even establish financial institutions built upon the game's virtual economy. Any insider knowledge about how the game's New Eden galaxy will change through future development could be valuable. CSM delegates are expressly forbidden from divulging or using insider information for their own advantage, or those of their friends. However, CCP Games revealed today that exactly such a situation has arisen. Larkonis Trassler, a prominent member of the Council of Stellar Management, used insider information to attempt to profit in the game's virtual InterStellar Kredit (ISK) currency. He has stepped down from his position on the council and his accounts have been banned by CCP for Non-disclosure Agreement violations.
Former Midway execs subpoenaed over company sale
Looks like the long arm of the law finally caught up to the Redstones, as Sumner and his daughter Shari have both been subpoenaed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts, regarding Sumner selling his stake in Midway to Mark Thomas. Both of the Redstones must appear in a New York court later this month for deposition and will provide physical and electronically-stored documents pertaining to the sale of Midway. For some odd reason, Mark Thomas hasn't been called. He bought Sumner's stake in the company for $100,000 and assumed $70 million in debt in doing so, which is something we would assume the court would want to hear about.Speculation suggests that Mark took over the $70 million debt because $30 million of it was secured debt, meaning that it would be paid to Thomas before the bondholders, who are owed a total of $150 million by Midway. The subpoena document states: "The cash collateral order places a clear emphasis on insiders getting paid before and, potentially, at the expense of the estates and their creditors." If you want to read the document for yourself, click here (warning: pdf link).[Via Edge]
Midway creditors upset by possible insider dealing
Midway's bankruptcy proceeding has gotten even more dramatic, as accusations of fraudulent insider deals enter the mix. The full story gets very complicated, but the main issue involves the relationship between former Midway owner Sumner Redstone and the relatively unknown Mark Thomas, whom the billionaire sold his stake in Midway to for a paltry $100,000 last December.A motion has been filed on behalf of several Midway creditors asking: "Who is Mark Thomas?" and "Why did Redstone essentially gift the company to this man?" Given Thomas' current holdings in Midway, when money starts getting divided out to creditors from the bankruptcy proceedings, he is apparently set to make out like a bandit, ahead of the laundry list of others owed money.Source - Creditors Allege Shady Insider Dealing In Midway Bankruptcy [GamePolitics]Source - Guessing game over Mark Thomas vexes Midway Games' creditors [Chicago Tribune]PDF - Creditor motion, hosted by GamePolitics.
Inventec Appliances execs fail to disclose iPod order cuts, could face prison
Earlier this year, Inventec Appliances (spun off from Inventec Electronics) was raided as prosecutors began looking for evidence to support charges of alleged insider trading, and now it looks like nine of the firm's employees could be headed to the slammer. Taiwan's Banciao District Prosecutors Office "alleged that nine executives and one lower level employee failed to publicly reveal a steep drop in iPod orders until after they had sold off nearly $22.4 million worth of stock," and although the employees knew of the order cuts as early as January 19th, nothing was publicly revealed until mid-March. Purportedly, prosecutors "are seeking the stiffest penalties against the two top executives," and if the evidence sticks, we have all ideas that Inventec will be huntin' a new Chairman (and President, too) in the not-too-distant future.[Via TUAW]
