Guilty pleas entered in giant Wall Str insider-trading ring

NEW YORK – A married couple, both lawyers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud in what was described as one of the biggest insider-trading operations since the 1980s, a US$15 million (N$105 million) scam that reached into some of the nation’s top financial firms.

Randi Collotta, 30, a former employee of Morgan Stanley and Co. in Manhattan, and her husband, Christopher Collotta, 34, who worked in private practice, were among 13 people who were criminally charged in the case.The couple received US$9 000 in kickbacks for inside tips that generated more than US$600 000 in illegal profits, Assistant US Attorney Andrew Fish said Thursday.In a plea deal with the government, Randi Collotta agreed not to appeal any sentence as long it’s between one and 1œ years in prison.Christopher Collotta vowed not to appeal any sentence from 10 months to a year and four months in prison.US District Judge Victor Marrero set sentencing for September 7.They remain free on US$250 000 bail each.Randi Collotta, sobbing through much of the proceeding, said she agreed in September 2004 with her husband to provide inside information she obtained in her job at Morgan Stanley to a broker, Marc Jurman of Palm Beach Garden, Florida.Jurman pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and securities fraud.He was also named in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint earlier this year.She said she told her husband about pending mergers and acquisitions between September 2004 and July 2005.”I knew my husband would share the information with Marc Jurman,” she said.She added: “I understood my actions were wrong and I accept responsibility for what I did.”Fish said Jurman shared that inside information with others, resulting in several hundred thousand dollars in illegal profits beyond US$38 500 Jurman pocketed after trading securities based on what the Collotas had told him.After the plea, Randi Collotta declined to comment.Her lawyer, Kenneth Breen, said, “Randi Collotta accepted responsibility for what she did and today took a significant step in putting this behind her.”Christopher Collotta, like his wife, said in court that he knew he acted illegally and accepted responsibility.He declined to comment outside court as well.His lawyer, Brian Rafferty, issued a statement outside court saying his client “deeply regrets his actions in participating in these offences, and realises that he will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.”The government said the trading ring relied on insiders at Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities LLC to steal valuable secrets from the companies.It also alleged a Banc of America Securities LLC broker accepted kickbacks and that two former representatives of Bear Stearns & Co.obtained proprietary UBS information.The SEC has described the case as one of the most pervasive Wall Street insider trading rings since Ivan Boesky and Dennis Levine engaged in notorious insider-trading schemes during the 1980s.According to prosecutors, Randi Collotta was an associate in Morgan Stanley’s global compliance division during the conspiracy.Nampa-APin Manhattan, and her husband, Christopher Collotta, 34, who worked in private practice, were among 13 people who were criminally charged in the case.The couple received US$9 000 in kickbacks for inside tips that generated more than US$600 000 in illegal profits, Assistant US Attorney Andrew Fish said Thursday.In a plea deal with the government, Randi Collotta agreed not to appeal any sentence as long it’s between one and 1œ years in prison.Christopher Collotta vowed not to appeal any sentence from 10 months to a year and four months in prison.US District Judge Victor Marrero set sentencing for September 7.They remain free on US$250 000 bail each.Randi Collotta, sobbing through much of the proceeding, said she agreed in September 2004 with her husband to provide inside information she obtained in her job at Morgan Stanley to a broker, Marc Jurman of Palm Beach Garden, Florida.Jurman pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and securities fraud.He was also named in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint earlier this year.She said she told her husband about pending mergers and acquisitions between September 2004 and July 2005.”I knew my husband would share the information with Marc Jurman,” she said.She added: “I understood my actions were wrong and I accept responsibility for what I did.”Fish said Jurman shared that inside information with others, resulting in several hundred thousand dollars in illegal profits beyond US$38 500 Jurman pocketed after trading securities based on what the Collotas had told him.After the plea, Randi Collotta declined to comment.Her lawyer, Kenneth Breen, said, “Randi Collotta accepted responsibility for what she did and today took a significant step in putting this behind her.”Christopher Collotta, like his wife, said in court that he knew he acted illegally and accepted responsibility.He declined to comment outside court as well.His lawyer, Brian Rafferty, issued a statement outside court saying his client “deeply regrets his actions in participating in these offences, and realises that he will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.”The government said the trading ring relied on insiders at Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities LLC to steal valuable secrets from the companies.It also alleged a Banc of America Securities LLC broker accepted kickbacks and that two former representatives of Bear Stearns & Co.obtained proprietary UBS information.The SEC has described the case as one of the most pervasive Wall Street insider trading rings since Ivan Boesky and Dennis Levine engaged in notorious insider-trading schemes during the 1980s.According to prosecutors, Randi Collotta was an associate in Morgan Stanley’s global compliance division during the conspiracy.Nampa-AP