Former Goldman banker, ex-FBI trainee charged with insider trading

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People exit the headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo/File Photo

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) banker, a former FBI agent trainee, a technology executive and others were charged on Monday with insider trading in separate schemes that together generated millions of dollars in profits, U.S. prosecutors said.

"Each of the defendants charged today corrupted the integrity of the markets," Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and one of Wall Street's main cops, told reporters.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed related civil charges over the various trading schemes.

Among those charged were former Goldman vice president Brijesh Goel, who faces six counts of securities fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly giving a co-conspirator non-public information about potential mergers and acquisitions beginning in February 2017.

The co-conspirator, identified by the SEC as Goel's friend Akshay Niranjan, used the tips to trade in securities of some of the companies targeted for deals - including Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) Inc and pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon - and split $280,000 in profits with Goel, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also charged Seth Markin, the former FBI trainee, with insider trading for allegedly buying shares of Pandion Therapeutics Inc before a February 2021 tender offer for the company by Merck & Co.

Markin allegedly learned of the deal by reviewing documents belonging to his then-romantic partner, who worked at a law firm representing Merck.

In a third case, prosecutors said Amit Bhardwaj, a former executive at laser specialist Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ:LITE) Inc, last fall bought shares in Coherent (NASDAQ:COHR) Inc after learning Lumentum planned to acquire the company.

Lawyers for Goel, Markin and Bhardwaj did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Prosecutors separately announced charges against former U.S. Representative Stephen Buyer for insider trading ahead of a major telecoms tie-up.

Williams, who took office last year after being nominated by President Joe Biden, said the cases showed his office is still focused on insider trading in publicly traded securities, even though recent financial fraud cases have involved private funds and digital assets.

So far this year, Williams' office charged Bill Hwang with fraud and racketeering related to the meltdown of Archegos Capital Management, the private investment firm he founded, and reached a $6 billion settlement with Germany's Allianz (ETR:ALVG) SE over the collapse of funds run by its U.S. asset management unit.

Williams' office has also brought its first-ever insider trading cases involving cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).