Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
Southwest Airlines
EPA
Venezuela
Doug Reinhardt
National emergency
'Walking Dead'
Monsta X
Facebook privacy
F-18 Super Hornets
Amazon
Cuba
U.S. News
March 14, 2018 / 7:19 PM

SEC: Equifax employee dumped stocks before data breach news

By
Daniel Uria
Former Equifax employee Jun Ying was charged with insider trading after he allegedly exercised and sold all his stock options in the company upon learning of the massive 2017 data breach before the company announced it. Photo by Justin Lane/EPA

March 14 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors charged a former Equifax executive Wednesday of insider trading, alleging he unloaded stocks before the company announced it had been affected by a data breach.

Jun Ying, former chief information officer at Equifax, faces civil and criminal charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia for allegedly profiting from confidential information about the massive breach.

"Ying used confidential information to conclude that his company had suffered a massive data breach, and he dumped his stock before the news went public," said Richard R. Best, director of the SEC's Atlanta Regional Office.

On Sept. 7, Equifax revealed hackers gained access to its data and potentially the personal information of some 143 million U.S. consumers in the breach which took place from mid-May through July.

RELATED Theranos CEO Holmes accused of $700M 'massive fraud'

Ying, who was next in line to be the company's global CIO, learned of the breach two weeks earlier on Aug. 25, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Sounds bad. We may be the one breached," he wrote in a text to a coworker that day.

The stock market had already closed when Ying learned of the breach, but the following Monday he searched online to determine a 2015 breach of one of the company's competitors, Experian, affected its stock.

RELATED Ford recalls 1.3M Fusions, Lincoln MKZs for steering wheel defect

Ying exercised and sold all his Equifax stock options, which the SEC said were worth $950,000, an hour later and avoided $117,000 in losses.

The SEC's complaint charges Ying with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks for him to repay the $480,000 in profits he made from the stock sales plus interest, penalties, and injunctive relief.

"Corporate insiders who learn inside information, including information about material cyber intrusions, cannot betray shareholders for their own financial benefit," Best said.

RELATED ACLU sues TSA to release info on phone search policy

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

EPA plans to scale back federal protection of waterways
Trump: Maduro supporters 'risking their lives, Venezuela's future'
Cuba refuses U.S. cruise ship
16 states, advocacy groups sue over Trump's national emergency
16 people rescued from SeaWorld ride

Photo Gallery

 
Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR's Daytona 500

Latest News

Stored soybeans could spoil before China trade conflict ends
5 Americans arrested in Haiti during violent protests
On This Day: U.S. Marines land on Iwo Jima
Famous birthdays for Feb. 19: Roger Goodell, Millie Bobby Brown
UPI Almanac for Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy