NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it had charged six network consultants with passing on confidential information to hedge funds.
Four Primary Gold Research LLC employees, moonlighting as consultants without their firm's knowledge, "abused their access to inside information about such technology companies as AMD, Apple, Dell, Flextronics, and Marvell.," the SEC said, while noting that it is legal to "obtain expert advice and analysis through expert networking arrangements."
The SEC filed charges in Manhattan against network consultants Mark Anthony Longoria, Daniel DeVore, Winifred Jiau and Walter Shimoon. Two other PGR employees, Bob Nguyen and James Fleishman, "acted as conduits by receiving inside information from PGR consultants and passing that information directly to PGR clients," the SEC said.
The complaint seeks fines and restitution for damages, and asks to bar Longoria, Shimoon and DeVore from further work as officers of a registered public company.
The alleged insider trading scheme led to $6 million in ill-gotten gains, the SEC said.
