Analyst who leaked iPhone sales trend data charged with insider trading and fraud
Between 2008 and 2010 the analyst John Kinnucan paid insiders with cash, trips and other incentives for information from their companies, including Apple's iPhone sales data.
The scoops were later sold to hedge funds for some good ol' insider trading, similar to the James Fleischman "consultancy", who was bribing a Samsung employee to give him some valuable data on iPad component sales.
John Kinnucan was allegedly supplying New York and California hedgies with the info, including the $6.5 billion Dallas-based Carlson Capital. A New York-based portfolio manager there used Kinnucan's information in its trades, but the hedge fund says he had already left the company, and it is cooperating with the authorities on breaking up the fraudulent practice.
The "consultant" allegedly got paid hundreds of thousands for his information, and came to fame in 2010, when he publicly refused to carry an FBI wire as part of its Perfect Hedge operation. The 54-year old Kinnucan now faces up to 20 years of jailtime for each indictment, and the prosecution has overwhelming evidence against him.
The analyst called a portfolio manager just minutes after he learned from a company employee that his firm will beat estimates, for example, allowing him time to cover his short bets, which prevented a $631, 000 loss, but was reflected in an email trail between the two.
source: Reuters
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