Later this afternoon we’re expecting the latest guilty plea in the government’s crackdown on insider trading – from a former “expert-network” consultant.
A hearing for Mark Anthony Longoria, a former supply chain manager for Advanced Micro Devices Inc, has been scheduled for 5p.m. Thursday afternoon, the WSJ’s Chad Bray reports.
The expected plea may not seem so unusual these days. A watershed moment in the government’s attack on corruption in the markets, which came a month and a half ago with the hedge fund titan Raj Rajaratnam’s guilty verdict, was quickly followed by sweeping convictions in two more trials and a string of guilty pleas.
Earlier this month, three hedge fund traders, including Zvi Goffer, allegedly known by some members of the conspiracy as “Octopussy”, were convicted. Just last week, a jury delivered the same verdict to Winifred Jiau, a former “expert-network” consultant (who also happened to have a nickname “Poohster.”)
All of those convicted, including Rajaratnam, have said they would appeal their verdicts.
With Longoria’s plea, where does that bring us in terms of the total tally? Here’s our Law Blog Index covering the last 18 months of proceedings:
people charged: 49;
convictions or guilty pleas: 45;
trials: 3; and,
pending trials: 1.
he government says it’s not done yet or as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement chief, Robert Khuzami, said recently, his agency is in period of historic insider-trading enforcement. The SEC has filed a horde of civil complaints, alongside the criminal complaints by prosecutors.
Prosecutors and the SEC agents have been working to sift through a mountain of evidence seized through subpoena in recent months from hedge funds and consulting firms, according to people familiar with the matter.
The scope of the probe is evident from the case of James Fleishman, a Primary Global employee still slated for trial and who has pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, in a court filing last month, said the government has gathered information on at least 50 hedge funds and affiliated people, and 300 hours of wiretaps containing conversations with some 250 consultants, and has turned over 11,000 pages of instant messages between hedge funds and Primary Global employees and 6,500 pages of emails.
A hearing for Mark Anthony Longoria, a former supply chain manager for Advanced Micro Devices Inc, has been scheduled for 5p.m. Thursday afternoon, the WSJ’s Chad Bray reports.
The expected plea may not seem so unusual these days. A watershed moment in the government’s attack on corruption in the markets, which came a month and a half ago with the hedge fund titan Raj Rajaratnam’s guilty verdict, was quickly followed by sweeping convictions in two more trials and a string of guilty pleas.
Earlier this month, three hedge fund traders, including Zvi Goffer, allegedly known by some members of the conspiracy as “Octopussy”, were convicted. Just last week, a jury delivered the same verdict to Winifred Jiau, a former “expert-network” consultant (who also happened to have a nickname “Poohster.”)
All of those convicted, including Rajaratnam, have said they would appeal their verdicts.
With Longoria’s plea, where does that bring us in terms of the total tally? Here’s our Law Blog Index covering the last 18 months of proceedings:
people charged: 49;
convictions or guilty pleas: 45;
trials: 3; and,
he government says it’s not done yet or as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement chief, Robert Khuzami, said recently, his agency is in period of historic insider-trading enforcement. The SEC has filed a horde of civil complaints, alongside the criminal complaints by prosecutors.
Prosecutors and the SEC agents have been working to sift through a mountain of evidence seized through subpoena in recent months from hedge funds and consulting firms, according to people familiar with the matter.
The scope of the probe is evident from the case of James Fleishman, a Primary Global employee still slated for trial and who has pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, in a court filing last month, said the government has gathered information on at least 50 hedge funds and affiliated people, and 300 hours of wiretaps containing conversations with some 250 consultants, and has turned over 11,000 pages of instant messages between hedge funds and Primary Global employees and 6,500 pages of emails.
