LOL. Wow, these Criminals actually had the Cajones to Complain about their treatment by the SEC and to complain about the fines they are receiving. Damn these Terrorist are Arrogant pieces of garbage.
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-160.htmWashington, D.C., July 15, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange
Commission today charged 11 individuals who were involved in separate
insider trading schemes that were detected through surveillance of
unusual trades preceding two different company merger announcements.
The SEC alleges that five individuals, including a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co., illegally tipped or traded on
confidential information ahead of an announcement last year that
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company would acquire Safeco Corporation, a
Seattle-based insurance company.
The SEC additionally alleges that six other individuals illicitly traded on non-public information in advance of an announcement in 2005
that private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners LLC would acquire
Neff Corporation, a Miami-based rental equipment company.
“The SEC and self-regulatory organizations work together to detect and investigate suspicious trades surrounding company mergers,” said
Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “These
individuals traded on confidential information with reckless disregard
for the fairness of the markets and utter disrespect for their jobs or
close-knit relationships. But their greed left a trail for
investigators to follow.”
David Nelson, Director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office, added, “These individuals chose money over integrity as they abused their
positions of trust and misused privileged information. Whether they
learned about the pending mergers through business, family, or friends,
they exploited those relationships to make an easy buck.”
The SEC filed three separate complaints against individuals involved in insider trading schemes prior to the announcement of the Safeco
acquisition:
- In a complaint filed in federal court in Orlando, the SEC alleges that Anthony Perez of Maitland, Fla., illegally tipped his brother Ian C. Perez of Orlando with material non-public information that he obtained
through his job at Goldman Sachs while working on a potential
acquisition of Safeco for a client. Ian Perez then bought Safeco call
options one day ahead of the public announcement and later sold them
for a profit of more than $152,000.
- In a complaint filed in federal court in Massachusetts, the SEC alleges that Peter E. Talbot of Springfield, Mass., then a financial analyst at a subsidiary of The Hartford Financial Services Group, tipped his nephew Carl E. Binette of Ludlow, Mass., after he learned at work that Safeco was an
acquisition target. Using Binette’s brokerage account, Talbot and
Binette bought Safeco call options over a six-day period leading up to
the public announcement and sold them afterwards for a profit of more
than $615,000.
- In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the SEC alleges that Math J. Hipp of Seattle engaged in insider trading based on confidential information
he misappropriated from his wife, an executive assistant at Safeco.
Hipp bought Safeco call options six days ahead of the public
announcement and later sold them for a profit of more than $118,000.
The Perez brothers have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the allegations. Anthony Perez will pay a penalty
of $25,000 and Ian Perez agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment
interest totaling $152,992.
Hipp has agreed to pay a total of $239,770 to settle the SEC’s charges against him without admitting or denying the allegations.
The SEC also filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleging separate incidents of insider
trading by six individuals in advance of the public announcement that
Odyssey Investment Partners would acquire the Neff Corporation:
- The SEC alleges that Thomas L. Borell, a Miami-based lawyer, gained access to confidential information through his close friendship
with a Neff director who also is the brother of Neff’s CEO. Borell
misappropriated the inside information to buy more than $1.3 million of
Neff stock during the six weeks prior to the acquisition announcement.
Borell purchased the majority of his Neff stock during times while he
and the director’s families were on vacation together. While at Walt
Disney World for four days, Borell called his broker 20 times and
purchased 6,100 shares of Neff stock. During a nine-day ski trip to
Vail, Colo., Borell called his broker more than 50 times and purchased
171,894 shares of Neff stock. In the weeks following the acquisition
announcement, Borell sold his Neff stock for a profit of nearly $1
million.
- The SEC alleges that Dr. Sebastian De La Maza of Miami learned about the pending acquisition from his daughter, who is married
to Neff’s CEO. During the few weeks preceding the acquisition
announcement, De La Maza bought Neff stock 14 times. In contrast,
during the previous year, De La Maza made no trades in his wife’s IRA,
only a handful of trades in a joint account, and averaged less than one
transaction a month in his own IRA. Following the Neff acquisition, De
La Maza exchanged the Neff shares for a profit of $84,000.
- The SEC alleges that Alberto J. Perez of Miami, who is a close friend and business associate of Neff’s CEO, learned of the
possible acquisition while working at an office at Neff’s headquarters
two doors down from the acquisition due diligence teams. He then
illegally tipped his brother Jose G. Perez of Miami with the
confidential information, and during the next few weeks they sold other
stock and used the money to purchase Neff stock for the first time
through a joint account the brothers shared. Following the acquisition,
they exchanged 83,000 Neff shares for a profit of nearly $400,000.
- The SEC alleges that attorney and accountant Kevan D. Acord of Overland Park, Kan., along with another accountant who works for him, Philip C. Growney of Kansas City, Mo., traded on inside information they obtained in the
course of their work preparing Neff’s tax returns and providing
miscellaneous tax and legal advice. Within an hour of a phone call that
informed them of details about the potential transaction, Acord bought
Neff shares for the first time for his personal account and for the
account of one of his long-time clients. Following the acquisition,
Acord exchanged the shares in his personal account for a profit of
$7,719, and exchanged the shares in the client account for a profit of
$146,572. Growney also made his first-ever purchase of Neff shares in
the days leading up to public announcement of the acquisition, and he
sold his Neff stock for a profit of nearly $13,000 afterwards.
With the eight remaining defendants in this series of insider trading cases, the SEC is seeking injunctions against further
violations, the return of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest,
and financial penalties. The SEC is additionally seeking an officer and
director bar against Acord.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange
(CBOE) in these cases.
Here are the complaints:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21132.pdfhttp://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21133-perez.pdfhttp://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21133-hipp.pdf