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The SEC has charged a former Indiana Congressman with insider trading, it was revealed Monday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said former U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 4th Congressional District, Stephen Buyer, allegedly used inside information to buy $1.5 million in stocks.
Buyer served as the U.S. representative for Indiana’s 4th congressional district and previously the 5th district from 1993 until 2011. He then formed a consulting firm, the Steve Buyer Group, providing services to companies, including T-Mobile.
The SEC states that in March 2018, Buyer attended a golf outing with a T-Mobile executive, who told him about the company’s nonpublic plan to acquire Sprint. The following day, Buyer is said to have begun acquiring Sprint securities ahead of the merger announcement, purchasing a total of $568,000 of Sprint common stock in his own personal accounts, a joint account with his cousin, and an acquaintance’s account. Following the merger news leaking, the SEC said Buyer saw an immediate profit of more than $107,000.
He is then said to have acquired over $1 million of Navigant Consulting, Inc. securities before the announcement it would be acquired by another of Buyer’s clients, Guidehouse LLP, spreading the purchases across various accounts. After the Navigant acquisition was announced, Buyer is said to have sold nearly all of the shares, profiting over $227,000.
“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 Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division.
