Indian executive pleads guilty to insider trading

NEW YORK,NY — A 42-year-old executive of Indian origin has pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a scheme to commit insider trading in which he made thousands of dollars of illegal profits.

Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy worked as a vice president and risk management specialist for a Manhattan, New York-based investment bank.

He pleaded guilty om August 10 to a criminal information charging him with engaging in the insider trading scheme.

He made over $78,000 by trading in the stock and options of three publicly-traded companies based on material nonpublic information he misappropriated from the investment bank and its parent company, Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim said.

He pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November this year.

According to allegations in court documents, as a vice president and risk management specialist, Krishnamoorthy was given access to material, non-public information concerning mergers and acquisitions in which the investment bank was potentially going to be retained.

In violation of the company’s policies and in breach of his duties to the company and its clients, Krishnamoorthy used this material nonpublic information to acquire Neustar stock and options. In the days and weeks after receiving the emails, Krishnamoorthy purchased numerous Neustar call options and hundreds of shares of Neustar stock before the public announcement of the transaction.