The SEC charged 6 people operating a Silicon Valley insider trading ring that made nearly $2 million
- The SEC charged six people with insider trading, busting a $1.7 million Silicon Valley ring.
- A revenue officer for San Jose-based Infinera allegedly passed insider information to his best friend.
- "Insider trading is part of my investment strategy," one defendant boasted on an internet message board.
The SEC charged six people with insider trading this week, busting a Silicon Valley ring that had generated $1.7 million in illicit profits.
At the center of the SEC's actions was Nathaniel Brown, a revenue officer for San Jose-based Infinera, a publicly listed network equipment manufacturer.
Brown is alleged to have passed insider information to his best friend, Benjamin Wylam, who in turn tipped off four others to make illegal trades. Stock in Fortinet, a publicly listed cybersecurity firm where one of the individuals worked, was also traded illegally.
Wylam went so far as to even post about his ill-gotten gains on an internet message board, per the SEC charges.
"Insider trading is part of my investment strategy," he boasted online.
The insider information included unreleased financial results and earnings guidance.
In one episode detailed in the SEC filings, Brown and Wylam took a birthday trip to Hawaii, where Brown hinted Infinera's upcoming results would likely disappoint investors. Wylam then sold out of his long position and shorted the stock - eventually making more than $65,000 when the negative earnings call sent the stock sliding 23% in one day.
Brown did not himself trade on the insider information, and became unnerved as Wylam - who was Brown's best man at his wedding - grew more brazen. On a call with Wylam in July 2016, Brown warned that his massive short trades raised an "obvious red flag."
But the pair smoothed things over. By August, Brown was snapping pictures of hundred-dollar bills spread out on his sink, while Wylam bought them both $2,500 front-row San Francisco Giants tickets.
Wylam and his four collaborators have agreed to civil penalties as high as $282,000, while the SEC is still pursuing litigation against Brown.