Summary: A former employee of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has been charged in an insider trading case that netted $5.6 million.
Steven Metro, the former managing clerk for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, has been indicted for his reported role in a $5.6 million insider trading scheme, according to NJ.com.
Metro, 40, is from Katonah, New York. He faces 25 years in prison on charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud, according to New Jersey federal prosecutors.
Metro used the computer systems at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett to find information about pending mergers & acquisitions. He worked at the firm from 2009 to 2013.
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Metro sent the information to a law school classmate, Frank Tamayo, of Brooklyn. The information was exchanged in coffee shops, bars and restaurants in midtown Manhattan.
Tamayo then sent the information to Vladimir Eydelman, a professional stock broker from Colts Neck.
Eydelman would be shown a napkin or piece of paper that had a ticker symbol written on it of a company whose securities would be purchased. Tamayo gave Eydelman the paper or napkin. Eydelman then chewed on the paper until he destroyed it.
The men traded for five years, bringing in $5.6 million in profits. The trades involved companies such as Brinks Home Security, Sirius XM Radio and PharMerica Corp.
Back in April, Tamayo pled guilty to three charges of fraud and is waiting to be sentenced, according to court documents. Eydelman has come to an agreement on a plea deal with prosecutors, but those terms have not been released. The charges against him are still pending.
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While employed at Simpson Thacher, Metro never worked on corporate transactions, but did steal information by using the phrases “merger agreement” and “bid letter” when using the firm’s computers.
The men were able to trade ahead of 13 planned corporate transactions using the stolen information, according to prosecutors.
Securities purchased by Eydelman were done so for himself, clients, family members, friends and Tamayo.
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Source: NJ.com