Federal prosecutors have unveiled criminal charges against nine people accused of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar insider trading hacking scheme. Authorities say that stock traders partnered with Ukrainian hackers to gain access to financial news releases before publication, allowing them to make insider trades worth millions. New Jersey District Attorney Paul Fishman announced the indictments Tuesday.
District Attorney Paul Fishman: “In two indictments, one returned here in the district of New Jersey and one in the eastern district of New York, charging a total of nine individuals. We allege that the conspirators stole more than 100,000 news releases, traded ahead of more than 800 company releases and made more than $30 million. In addition, the SEC has filed a civil complaint charging those individuals and a host of others with similar trading conduct.”
Those indicted include six stock traders and two Ukrainian computer hackers. Five of the defendants were arrested in the United States on Tuesday.