Former GOP Rep. Stephen Buyer charged with insider trading by federal prosecutors, SEC

Buyer allegedly spread the stock purchases in both companies across seven different accounts.

They included two separate Individual Retirement Accounts belonging to him alone; an investment account belonging to his wife; a joint account Buyer owned with his wife; a joint account Buyer shared with his son; and a joint account Buyer shared with his cousin. Buyer also used a seventh account, owned by a woman identified only as “Friend-1,” as part of the schemes.

Buyer began a romantic relationship with the unidentified Friend-1 in 2006, according to the SEC complaint.

In 2018, Buyer used the woman’s IRA account to purchase more than $12,000 worth of stock in Sprint, that complaint said.

A year later, he used the woman’s account again to buy $22,000 of stock in Navigant, shortly before both companies were acquired by Buyer’s consulting clients, according to the SEC.

In his effort to cover up the schemes, Buyer allegedly used analyst report printouts and phony notes in an effort to convince investigators that his stock purchases were informed solely by publicly available market research, according to authorities.

“When insiders like Buyer — an attorney, a former prosecutor, and a retired Congressman — monetize their access to material, nonpublic information, as alleged in this case, they not only violate the federal securities laws, but also undermine public trust and confidence in the fairness of our markets,” said SEC Enforcement Division Director Gurbir Grewal in a statement.

Buyer’s lawyer, Andrew Goldstein of Cooley LLP, told CNBC in a statement, “Congressman Buyer is innocent.”

“His stock trades were lawful. He looks forward to being quickly vindicated,” Goldstein said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/25/sec-charges-former-gop-rep-stephen-buyer-with-insider-trading-.html