U.S. securities watchdog charges ex-Congressman Stephen Buyer with insider trading

Key Takeaways:

  • Former US Congressman Stephen Buyer has been accused of insider trading
  • According to the SEC, he misappropriating secrets he learned as a consultant to make around $350,000
  • Buyer served as a lawmaker from Indiana between 1993 and 2011
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused former U.S Congressman Stephen Buyer of insider trading. 
Image by MotionStudios from Pixabay 

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused former Congressman Stephen Buyer of insider trading. 

The law enforcement authorities arrested Buyer from his home on Monday, according to the Department of Justice Press Release

The ex-U.S. lawmaker represented Indiana’s 4th (previously numbered 5th) congressional district between 1993 and 2011. He served in his capacity as a member of the Republican Party.

The SEC also shared the news of the charges on Twitter. According to the post, the Buyer allegedly used inside information to buy $1.5 million in stocks.

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Nine people charged with insider trading

The former Republican lawmaker was not the only one to come under the scanner. Authorities charged nine people in four separate and unrelated insider trading schemes.

These said cases involve trading based on confidential information misappropriated from entities and individuals in various industries, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

“The defendants in these cases made between hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars from illegal securities trading based on material, non-public information that was stolen from numerous sources,” 

the notice reads. 

One of the cases also involves a man who was training to be an FBI agent. According to the reports, Seth Markin and his friend Brandon Wong made more than $1.4 million in illegal profits. 

As the DOJ reports, the duo traded in stock based on inside information about an acquisition deal that Markin misappropriated from his then-girlfriend, an attorney at a major law firm in Washington D.C.

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Stephen Buyer used several accounts to hide funds

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have accused Buyer of misappropriating secrets he learned as a consultant to make around $350,000 illegally. 

The first alleged insider trading involving Buyer occurred during the 2018 $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. The buyer supposedly leveraged his work as a consultant and lobbyist to make illegal profits of $126,000.

In another case in 2019, the Buyer allegedly bought over 16,000 shares of Navigant Consulting before another firm, Guidehous, acquired the company.

He sold the shares almost immediately after the news of the deal became public. The former Congressman made over $223,000 from his illegal Navigant trades.  

“Buyer again spread the purchases across several accounts, including his own accounts, joint accounts with his wife and son, his wife’s personal account, and the same acquaintance’s account involved in the Sprint trading,” 

the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. 

Law enforcement authorities have charged Buyer with four counts of securities fraud, each carrying a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

The news comes a week after federal authorities in the United States arrested a former Coinbase manager on charges of crypto insider trading.

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