SEATTLE (AP) - The Latest on a former financial analyst at Amazon being charged with insider trading (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
A former financial analyst at Amazon has pleaded guilty to an insider-trading charge, admitting in court he tipped off a college friend to information about the company’s forthcoming earnings report in spring 2015.
Brett D. Kennedy resigned from Amazon in May. Prosecutors said that his former fraternity brother at the University of Washington, Maziar Rezakhani, made stock trades based on the information Kennedy provided, quickly profited $116,000 and then paid Kennedy $10,000 in cash for the tip.
The insider trading scheme came to light as investigators were looking into a separate fraud by Rezakhani, for which he is serving five years in federal prison.
Kennedy’s lawyer, Chris Black, says his 26-year-old client has taken full responsibility.
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10:43 a.m.
A financial analyst at Amazon has been charged with insider trading.
Federal prosecutors in Seattle say Brett D. Kennedy fed information he had about a forthcoming Amazon earnings report to a friend who was a securities trader.
According to charging papers filed Wednesday, the friend bought 4,400 shares of Amazon and immediately sold them after the earnings report was released and the company’s stock price jumped. Prosecutors say the friend cleared $116,000 and paid Kennedy $10,000 in cash for his trouble.
Kennedy’s attorney, Chris Black, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Kennedy was due to enter a plea in U.S. District Court in Seattle late Thursday morning.
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