We're perilously near the end of what must be our favorite insider trading case. Back in 2004, a group of young bankers got together in a spa near the Fulton Fish Market and concocted a scheme that seemed based on every insider trading case that ever existed. They'd trade on their own M&A deals. They'd steal Business Week. (Really. Business Week.) They'd front the trades through Eastern European grandmothers. Basically, it's your best ideas when you are drunk. And they did it.
Now a federal court has entered final judgments against four of the defendants. The Commission charged 17 people in connection with an international scheme that netted nearly $7 million in illicit gains.
SEC Closes Case on Jail-Bound Insiders [CCH Wall Street]
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 10:11AM
The only crimes you hear of are those committed by either dumb or extremely unlucky criminals. This should definitely be catalogued under 'dumb.'
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 10:36AM
"The judgment orders Eugene Plotkin, Stanislav Shpigelman and Elvis Santana to repay ill-gotten gains of $12,000 and $475,000, respectively. The two men, along with Jason Smith, have been ordered enjoined against future violations"
Respectively, eh?
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 10:40AM
Line up in a circle!
Posted by John Carney , Jun 06, 2008 10:44AM
Yeah. We cleaned that up because it made no sense. Who the hell is this Elvis character? That's the first time we heard of him. Presumably he doesn't exist.
Posted by counterclockwise , Jun 06, 2008 10:47AM
The original plotters, Plotkin and Pajcin, worked for Goldman Sachs as traders. They brought in Shpigelman, a mergers & acquisitions guy from Merrill Lynch. It all went downhill from there.
The names sound like they were dreamed up by Mel Brooks for a musical about crazy times on Wall Street.
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 10:57AM
The guy only made $12k? What sort of half assed deal was this?
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 11:10AM
And you wonder why Eastern European economies still suck! How the hell do you even pronounce their names? Plotkin sounds like a Kremlin bodyguard
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 11:20AM
Can you imagine the conversation around a dark table at Ulysses around 11pm?
"Guys, guys, guys...seriously...listen up. I've got this idea that NOBODY has thought of. There's NO WAY that anybody will catch on! But before I spill the beans, someone get another round of vodka."
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 11:56AM
The guys made much more than $12K. The main conspirators got beaucoup jail time, which made up for their low fines.
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 12:21PM
It's too bad they were brought down before getting a chance to run some dumbass mutual fund after-hours trading scheme.
Posted by guest , Jun 06, 2008 1:55PM
The "spa" must have been Spa 88. I love that place. The Russian ladies working there are super hot.
Posted by guest , Jun 09, 2008 11:20AM
@1:55 Do you get happy ending ?
Posted by guest , Jun 09, 2008 11:28AM
@12:21 top hedge funds ran that scheme. what have YOU done lately that is so sharp?