A financial executive was found guilty Thursday of illegally making more than $22 million by having his bosses trade chips ahead of the acquisition firm’s announcement that it would take former President Donald Trump’s media company public. Ta.
After a jury found him guilty on all charges in federal court in Manhattan, a shaken Bruce Garerick bowed his head and repeatedly wiped his face with his hands.
Garerick, who testified for the defense, was found guilty in 2021 of tipping others off about the merger of special acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) with Trump Media & Technology Group. I received it. Mr. Garelick was a member of DWAC’s board of directors.
His co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial and admitted to illegally earning more than $22 million.
Garerick’s sentencing is scheduled for September 12th, and he remains free on bail.
Trump, who is running for president again this year as a Republican, is not involved in the charges against the men.or Trump Media & Technology Group, his society of truth It was registered on the platform and began trading on the Nasdaq stock market on March 26th.
When the events that gave rise to the charges occurred in 2021, Mr. Garelick, of Providence, Rhode Island, was chief investment officer at New York-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital LLC, but throughout his career has worked in the Boston area. .
The company was owned by Michael Schwarzman of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Schwartzman and his brother Gerald Schwartzman, of Aventura, Florida, pleaded guilty several weeks ago to insider trading charges, admitting that they illegally earned more than $22 million. They are scheduled to be sentenced in July.
In testimony earlier this week, Garelick claimed he had no secrets about the potential merger when he bought DWAC securities, which ultimately netted him nearly $50,000 in profits. And, he said, he obeyed the law and did not share his secrets with others.
However, on cross-examination, prosecutors brought up the fact that after announcing the merger agreement, he said, “We made $20 million.”
“Sure, I said those words,” he admitted.
“You said, ‘We made $20 million on this,'” the prosecutor said.
“That’s right,” he answered.
