Apple’s Former Head of Insider Trading Policy Arrested for Insider Trading

The former attorney for Apple, Inc. in charge of ensuring that employees did not participate in insider trading was arrested earlier this year on allegations of insider trading. According to U.S. authorities, Gene Daniel Levoff was the senior director of corporate law for Apple until last year. Prosecutors claim that starting in 2011, Levoff traded shares of Apple stock based on advance knowledge of revenue and earnings figures for the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claim that Levoff collected $227,000 in profits and avoided $377,000 in losses as a result of his actions.

The SEC complaint filed against Levoff claims that in 2015, he learned that Apple would not meet the analysts’ third quarter projections for iPhone sales and sold virtually all of his holdings in the company prior to the public announcement. When the company reported its figures, Apple stock dropped more than 4%. In that single transaction, it is claimed that Levoff avoided $345,000 in losses. Levoff was a member of the company’s “disclosure committee,” which received quarterly and annual reports as well as press statements prior to release.

Levoff was fired from Apple in September of last year after being placed on leave for two months. He was one of the company’s most senior executives, reporting directly to the general counsel of Apple. Levoff was responsible for implementing the company’s insider trading policies, and updated the policy in 2015. He sent emails to coworkers reminding them that they were not allowed to trade shares based on non-public information. Since the arrest, Apple has stated that it is reviewing its policies implemented to avoid issues of insider trading.

Federal Insider Trading Charges

Insider trading refers to buying or selling of securities based on material, nonpublic information and in violation of a fiduciary duty or other form of confidence. Insider-trading violations include a number of actions, such as the tipping of information to others, trading based on misappropriated information, or securities trading by the person tipped. Some of the most common examples of insider-trading accusations include corporate directors, employees, or officers trading after learning significant information as well as friends, family, or business associates trading after being tipped information. Government employees can also be accused of insider trading if they buy or sell securities based on information learned in their government position in addition to employees of law, banking, or brokerage firms who trade based on nonpublic information they learn in the course of their jobs.

The penalties for insider trading include both civil and criminal punishment. Criminally, a person convicted of insider-trading violations can spend up to 20 years in prison and pay a fine up to $5,000,000. That fine is increased to $25,000,000 for non-natural persons, such as a business entity. Civil penalties for insider trading include disgorgement of any profits made by insider trading and additional fines up to three times the profit gained from the transactions.

Call or Contact the Office to Speak with Federal Criminal Defense Counsel

Accusations of insider trading can devastate a person both personally and professionally. If you or a loved one has been accused of this white collar crime, call or contact the Law Office of Bradley S. Sandler in Beverly Hills today.