PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A former executive of the internet auction firm eBay has pleaded guilty to insider trading violations in federal court in Philadelphia.
According to federal prosecutors, 45-year-old Christopher Saridakis, of Wilmington, Delaware was a senior executive at another company, GSI Commerce, which was set to be bought out by eBay in 2011.
On Friday, Saridakis acknowledged tipping off a friend that he should buy GSI stock and that man did, purchasing 25,000 shares for about $470,000, which he was able to sell for a profit of more than $260,000 when eBay bought GSI a few months later.
Saridakis allegedly shared the same insider information with other family and friends.
He’s scheduled for sentencing Sept. 19. Saridakis and others are also being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for the insider trades.
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