New insider trading scandal involves big-time lawyer

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Another insider trading scandal has cropped up. This one involves a former big-time lawyer, Matthew Kluger, who gleaned pre-release takeover information from his law firms, which included Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Cravath Swaine & Moore, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom - three esteemed firms with egg on their faces right now.

Kluger quit Wilson Sonsini in Washington, DC not too long ago. He continues to reside in the Northern Virginia suburbs. The alleged scheme called for Kluger to dig up the inside information from his firms and pass it on to an unnamed partner, who would inform Garrett Bauer - an employee working at a string of financial companies. Bauer would make the trades on behalf of all three.

What distinguishes this crime is its surprisingly long duration and repeated success. The insider trading had been going on for 17 years before it was busted. Over that span, the men generated more than $30 million to split.

What will really be interesting is how the government cracked the case. Hopefully, we'll learn more about this soon. Kluger and Bauer, according to Reuters, hatched their plan in a meeting in Atlantic City. Bauer apparently agreed to use gambling as a cover story to explain cash withdrawals he was making to funnel illegal profits to Kluger.

Kluger and Bauer were criminally charged with 17 counts of insider trading and other crimes. The unnamed conspirator may turn out to be a witness for the government.

For more:
- here's the article
- see the litigation release

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