* Jamil Bouchareb, Daniel Corbin settle civil cases
* Tips said to be misappropriated from PR firm executive
May 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission on Wednesday said it has reached settlements with the
last two defendants in an insider trading probe known as the
“Golden Goose” case, which had been based on secrets stolen from
an executive at a public relations firm.
Jamil Bouchareb agreed to pay about $1.05 million and fellow
trader Daniel Corbin agreed to pay about $191,000 in disgorged
profit plus interest to settle the SEC’s civil cases, after
having previously pleaded guilty to related criminal charges.
Federal investigators accused the men of making trades based
on tips about pending mergers between 2005 and 2008 from Matthew
Devlin, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc broker.
Investigators said Devlin misappropriated the information by
listening to conversations of his wife Nina, an executive at
public relations firm Brunswick Group LLC who worked on mergers,
and assessing her travel schedule.
According to documents, Matthew Devlin shared tips with
friends about transactions including Novartis AG’s
purchase of Eon Labs, InBev NV’s purchase of
Anheuser-Busch Cos, and Electronic Arts Inc’s unsolicited
bid for Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
Nina Devlin was not implicated in wrongdoing. Investigators
said people involved in the scheme called her the “Golden Goose”
because of the valuable information obtained wrongly from her.
Following their guilty pleas, Bouchareb was sentenced to
2-1/2 years in prison and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.6 million,
while Corbin was sentenced to six months in prison and agreed to
forfeit $1 million.
Devlin was sentenced to three years probation in March 2012
after cooperating with authorities, and wearing a recording
device, to help them bring charges against others.
Bouchareb’s lawyer Lilly Ann Sanchez said on Wednesday: “We
are pleased to have settled the SEC matter. My client is anxious
to go on with his life, and have these matters put behind him.”
A lawyer for Corbin was not immediately available for
comment.
Antonia Chion, an associate director in the SEC’s
enforcement division, said all participants in the Golden Goose
case “have now been brought to justice.”
The case is SEC v. Devlin et al, U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York, No. 08-11001.
