A New York City broker was charged over an insider trading scheme that involved a friend stealing sensitive merger information from the laptop of an executive assistant at an investment bank.
(Bloomberg) — A New York City broker was charged over an insider trading scheme that involved a friend stealing sensitive merger information from the laptop of an executive assistant at an investment bank.
Spartan Capital Securities LLC broker Jordan Meadow was using deal information that his friend, Steven Teixeira, allegedly took from his girlfriend’s computer while the pair were working at home during the pandemic, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.
The charges against Meadow were among multiple insider-trading cases made public Thursday as federal prosecutors aggressively target the crime. Last week, the US Attorney’s Office won a resounding victory as a jury convicted a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employee of trading on confidential information he obtained from the bank.
Teixeira passed the information to Meadow, who made millions trading on behalf of himself and his clients, prosecutors claim. Meadow, 34, allegedly offered Teixeira gifts, including Rolex watches, in exchange for the tips.
Meadow pleaded not guilty to several counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy in a hearing Thursday afternoon in Manhattan. He was ordered released on $1 million bond, to be secured by the $800,000 equity in his parents’ house and their $400,000 retirement account.
Meadow and Texeira were also named in a civil insider trading suit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ira Lee Sorkin, an attorney for Meadow, declined to comment outside court.
Teixeira’s girlfriend formerly worked at an investment bank, which wasn’t identified by prosecutors. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the woman was a former Morgan Stanley employee. The bank declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.
Teixeira has pleaded guilty to 12 offenses, including securities fraud, in a cooperation agreement with the government. A lawyer for Teixeira declined to comment. Spartan Capital did not immediately return a request for comment
The documents on the bank employee’s laptop detailed deals the investment bank was advising on, including Penn National Gaming’s’s $2.2 billion takeover of Score Media and Gaming in 2021 and Broadcom Inc.’s proposed takeover of VMware Inc., which prosecutors said was worth $65 billion.
Teixeira allegedly used a friend as an intermediary to pass on the information about upcoming acquisitions to Meadow.
In the Penn National case, Meadow allegedly bought more than 769 call option contracts before the deal was announced, eventually generating more than $5 million in profits for his clients, according to the allegations.
Meadow, a New Jersey resident, last month asked a federal court judge to quash a subpoena that authorities had served him as part of this case.
The May 2023 subpoena, a copy of which was filed in court, requested information about the companies he traded on and his dealings with five other people.
–With assistance from Bob Van Voris.
(Updates with Meadow plea and bail.)
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