A former Goldman Sachs analyst who prosecutors said was trying to “run away” from being arrested on insider trading charges was sentenced Thursday in a London court.
Mohamed Zina, 35, was found guilty by a London jury of insider trading and fraud after allegedly using information he gained through his work to buy shares in companies and obtain more than $175,000 in ill-gotten gains. received the verdict.
Gina, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, received information that led him to buy shares in semiconductor manufacturer Arm Holdings and bar owner Punch Taverns. According to the Financial Times.
After her arrest in December 2017, Gina refused to have a lawyer present during her initial questioning by UK Securities.
“Is that perhaps an indication that Mohamed Zina thought he could talk his way out of this situation?” Peter Carter, one of the prosecutors in the case, told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday. He said this:
Gina said she held her head in her hands when the jury unanimously found her guilty on all nine charges. He could face up to 10 years in prison.
Gina’s lawyer asked for leniency, stressing to the jury that he was raised by a single mother and that he worked weekend jobs at a supermarket because he “missed working with ordinary people.” I tried to persuade him to show it to me.
But prosecutors successfully argued that Gina took the fraudulent loan in order to “deceive the market for personal gain by cynically trading on inside information.”
Steve Smart, joint director of enforcement and market oversight at the UK Financial Conduct Authority, said the convictions were a sign that “economic crime has caught our attention and we need to take action to maintain the integrity of UK markets.” “We are sending a clear message that we will take action.”
Prosecutors said the suspect used confidential information to buy stock in six companies between July 2016 and December 2017, including while knowing about SoftBank Group’s impending $32 billion takeover. Arm Holdings was also included, he said.
He had pleaded not guilty to six counts of insider trading and three counts of fraud for lying to Tesco Bank about the purpose of the loan, which prosecutors said was used to buy shares.
“Mohamed Zina betrayed the trust we placed in him and his misuse of customer information is in direct contradiction to our values. We will not tolerate this behavior whatsoever,” Gold said. A Mann Sachs spokesperson told Reuters.
Carter told jurors at the start of the trial that Gina used “price-sensitive personal information” to invest on the stock exchange.
He said Goldman Sachs’ internal policies strictly prohibit the use of confidential information obtained by investment banks or their employees.
“We do not consider any breach of confidentiality or inappropriate or careless use of confidential information,” he said in the policy.
This is the latest insider trading scandal involving Goldman. In September, a former analyst at the company was indicted on charges of leaking insider information about mergers and acquisitions to a friend, who allegedly used the information to buy stock and net a profit of nearly $500,000. There is.
After working at Blackstone, Anthony Viggiano, 26, of Baldwin, Louisiana, worked as an associate in Goldman’s wealth and wealth management department.
He and three others are charged with securities fraud.
with post wire
