Former Director For Corporate Law At Apple Pleads Guilty To Insider Trading

Former Director For Corporate Law At Apple Pleads Guilty To Insider Trading.

A statement by the District of New Jersey’s US Attorney’s Office on Thursday reveals that the former corporate secretary and director of corporate law at Apple has pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud.

California native Gene Levoff before Judge William Martini in Newark, New Jersey, with his plea, admits to taking advantage of his position at the leading tech company to commit acts of insider trading for five years between 2011 and 2016.

During this period, Levoff served as corporate secretary, director of corporate law, and co-chairman of the company’s disclosure committee. As a result, Levoff had significant access to the company’s quarterly reports and revenue data long before they made their way to the public.

However, Levoff broke Apple’s trust and the company’s insider trading rules he was supposed to enforce. “Gene Levoff betrayed the trust of one of the world’s largest tech companies for his own financial gain,” surmised Attorney for the United States, Khanna.

Executing trades off of confidential information, the lawyer made up to $227,000 in profits and avoided losses of about $377,000. 

“The average American, whose retirement savings is invested in these companies, has every right to expect that rules are being followed, the game is being played fairly, and their nest egg is safe from profiteers who willingly sidestep the rules to improve their own financial future at the expense of others. The FBI is here to make sure the playing field is level,” noted Terence Reilly, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge in Newark, speaking on the severity of the crime.

It is worth noting that for each charge, Levoff faces the possibility of a 20-year jail term and $5 million in fines. A sentence for the case is expected on November 10.

The US DOJ, in recent times, has committed to fighting the scourge of insider trading, as highlighted by US Attorney Khanna as he says, “This Office will continue to prioritize securities fraud prosecutions.”

Earlier this month, the DOJ had revealed that it was indicting former OpenSea executive Nathaniel Chastain for similar charges. Chastain allegedly broke the trust of the leading NFT marketplace by using confidential company information to purchase NFTs scheduled to be featured on its homepage ahead of time to profit from the consequent surge in price afterward.