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u.s. news Diamars 26 Juli 2022

Ex-US congressman among 9 charged in insider trading cases

(AP) — A former U.S. diana, was arrested Monday that the cases, in addition to
congressman from Indi- in his home state. He served several other recently an-
ana, technology company on committees with over- nounced crackdowns on in-
executives, a man train- sight over the telecommuni- sider trading, represent a fol-
ing to be an FBI agent, cations industry while a Re- low-through on his pledge to
and an investment banker publican congressman from be “relentless in rooting out
were among nine people 1993 through 2011. crime in our financial mar-
charged in four separate kets.”
and unrelated insider He was described as making
trading schemes revealed purchases of Sprint securi- “We have zero tolerance, zero
on Monday with the un- ties in March 2018 just a day tolerance for cheating in our
sealing of indictments in after attending a golf outing markets,” said Gurbir S. Gre-
New York City. with a T-Mobile executive wal, director of the SEC En-
who told him about the com- forcement Division.
It was one of the most signif- pany’s then-nonpublic plan
icant attacks by law enforce- to acquire Sprint, according “When insiders like Buyer
ment on insider trading in a to a civil case brought against — an attorney, a former pros- information security officer at a major Washington D.C.
decade, and a prosecutor and Buyer by the Securities and ecutor, and a retired Con- of Lumentum Holdings Inc., law firm. According to court
other federal officials pledged Exchange Commission in a gressman — monetize their of using secrets to trade il- papers, he and a friend made
fresh enthusiasm for similar federal court in Manhattan. access to material, nonpublic legally and then giving the more than $1.4 million in il-
prosecutions in the future. information, as alleged in this information to criminal asso- legal profits after he learned
They said the cheating re- Authorities said he also en- case, they not only violate the ciates, including four friends. that Merck & Co. was going
sulted in millions of dollars gaged in illegal trading in federal securities laws, but The SEC said Bhardwaj and to acquire Pandion Thera-
of illegal profits for defen- 2019 ahead of Navigant Con- also undermine public trust his friends generated more peutics. It was unclear who
dants situated on both coasts sulting Inc.’s acquisition by and confidence in the fair- than $5.2 million in illicit would represent Markin in
and in middle America. consulting and advisory firm ness of our markets,” Grewal profits by trading ahead of court.
Guidehouse. Documents said. two corporate acquisition an-
Stephen Buyer was accused said he leveraged his work as nouncements. In a fourth indictment, an
in court papers of engag- a consultant and lobbyist to In a second prosecution, investment banker based in
ing in insider trading during make illegal profits. three executives at Silicon A lawyer for Bhardwaj did New York was charged with
the $26.5 billion merger of Valley technology companies not immediately return mes- sharing secrets about poten-
T-Mobile and Sprint, an- His lawyer, Andrew Gold- were charged with trading sages seeking comment. tial mergers with another
nounced in April 2018. An stein, said in a statement: on inside information about person, on the understanding
indictment identified him as “Congressman Buyer is in- corporate mergers that one of In a third case, Seth Mar- that the pair would share ille-
someone who misappropri- nocent. His stock trades were them learned about from his kin, of Washington Crossing, gal profits of about $280,000.
ated secrets he learned as a lawful. He looks forward to employer. Pennsylvania — a man who
consultant to make $350,000 being quickly vindicated.” was training to be an FBI Authorities said seven of the
illegally. An indictment accused Amit agent — allegedly stole inside nine defendants were arrest-
U.S. Attorney Damian Wil- Bhardwaj, 49, of San Ramon, information from his then- ed Monday while two were
Buyer, 63, of Noblesville, In- liams told a news conference California, who was the chief girlfriend who was working arrested previously.

Co-defendant in Central Park jogger case is exonerated

(AP) — A co-defendant of the so- Lopez was 15 when he was arrested false statements” and under “im- and murderer, Matias Reyes, to the
called Central Park Five, whose along with five other Black and La- mense external pressure.” He served attack.
convictions in a notorious 1989 tino teenagers in the rape and assault more than three years behind bars be-
rape of a jogger were thrown out on Trisha Meili but reached a deal fore being released in the early 1990s. Prosecutors who reviewed the case
more than a decade later, had his with prosecutors to plead guilty to had concluded the teenagers’ confes-
conviction on a related charge the lesser charge that he and several Lopez, now 48, didn’t give a state- sions, made after hours of interroga-
overturned Monday. others mugged a male jogger on the ment in court and left without speak- tions, were deeply flawed.
same night. ing to reporters.
Steven Lopez was exonerated in re- “A comparison of the statements re-
sponse to requests by both Lopez’s District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a “Mr. Lopez is looking for privacy at veals troubling discrepancies,” they
attorney and prosecutors at a court judge Monday that a review of the this time,” said his lawyer, Eric Sha- wrote in court papers at the time.
hearing in Manhattan. case found that Lopez had pleaded piro Renfroe. “The accounts given by the five de-
guilty involuntarily “in the face of fendants differed from one another
During the hearing, the defense at- on the specific details of virtually ev-
torney told his client: “I believe what ery major aspect of the crime.”
happened to you was a profound in-
justice and an American tragedy. ... Prosecutors said on Monday that
I’m happy to be here today with DA statements implicating Lopez in the
Bragg so we can give you your name violence night also were unreliable.
back.”
Other individuals who linked Lopez
The brutal assault on Meili, a to the attacks on the male and female
28-year-old white investment banker joggers later recanted their allegations
who was in a coma for 12 days after in their civil depositions, prosecutors
the attack, was considered emblemat- wrote in court papers. The male jog-
ic of New York City’s lawlessness in ger never identified Lopez as one of
an era when the city recorded 2,000 the assailants, the papers add.
murders a year.
The Central Park Five, now some-
Five teenagers were convicted in the times known as the “Exonerated
attack on Meili and served six to 13 Five,” went on to win a $40 million
years in prison. Their convictions settlement from the city and inspire
were overturned in 2002 after evi- books, movies and television shows.
dence linked a convicted serial rapist