Boston, MA 12/23/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s former senior manager, Mr. Brian Jorgenson was charged on Thursday with insider trading. Mr. Brian was a senior manager of the Treasury Group of the company. He has passed on some confidential information of the company to his friend. Hence, both he and his friend, residents of Seattle, have been charged by the United States Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission with 35 counts of illegal trading.
Confession
Last month, when FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) showed up for questioning him, he was with his wife and their four children. Mr. Brian confessed that he had given private information of the company to his friend, who is an experienced day trader, for about three times in a span of one and half years. He admitted that both of them profited by approximately $400,000 as they were able to bet correctly, that the stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) would fall after the declaration of earnings of Q4 and would rise after the declaration of earnings of Q1. According to the prosecutors, the online day trader friend, Mr. Sean Stokke is the former colleague of Mr. Brian Jorgenson and executes trades.
Complaint
According to the complaint that was filed by the department, this scheme of profit making began in April, 2012, when Mr. Brian, through his job in treasury department of the company, found out that the company is planning to invest multi-million dollar in the digital business of Barnes & Noble Inc, the book seller. This information was passed on by him to Mr. Stokke who predicted that the stock of Barnes & Noble will rise. Indeed, the stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) jumped up by about 50% which resulted in a profit of more than $184,000 to him. This was repeated again twice in a period of 18 months.
Supporting Quote
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had fired Mr. Brian. A representative of the company stated that the company does not have any tolerance towards insider trading. He said that the company coordinated with the government and helped the investigation.
