The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former analyst at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock with insider trading.
On September 28, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Anthony Viggiano with insider trading ahead of multiple mergers and acquisitions.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Joseph Sansone tipped off two friends about upcoming mergers and strategic partnerships.
Joseph Sansone, Chief of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit, commented:
“As alleged in our complaint, Anthony Viggiano violated his employer’s trust and abused his access to confidential information to repeatedly and unfairly benefit himself and his friends.”
Insider trading is rampant
According to the complaint, Viggiano passed on leads to at least eight transactions between 2021 and 2023 to his friend.
Additionally, subsequent trades reportedly generated more than $580,000 in illegal profits, court documents show.
The SEC also charged the recipients of the trading tips, Christopher Salamone, Stephen Forlano and Nathan Bleckley. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Viggiano faces nine counts of securities fraud and conspiracy because he “betrayed the trust of his employer,” before adding:
“No matter how elusive an insider trader’s actions may be, or how hard they try to conceal their crimes, this office will pursue and prosecute those who seek to cheat the system.”
The analyst worked at Blackstone for about seven months and at Goldman for more than a year before being fired.
Earlier this week, a Massachusetts police chief was charged with insider trading that allegedly netted him more than $2.2 million in illegal profits.
On September 19, a former Republican congressman was sentenced to 22 months in prison for trading on inside information. Stephen Buyer was found guilty of using prior knowledge of two large telecom deals to make nearly $350,000.
The former politician previously served on the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which oversees the U.S. telecommunications industry.
In August, the former head of product at NFT marketplace OpenSea was sentenced to three months in prison for insider trading.
Politicians in the spotlight
Prominent figures such as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have also been in the spotlight.
Her husband, Paul Pelosi, has faced a backlash over his stock trades that appeared to align with legislation in the US tech sector.
It’s so common that a “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” account has been created, with 340,000 followers. It keeps busy reporting on potential insider trading activity by politicians and public figures.
