FBI arrests seven in Dell and Nvidia insider trading ring

ROGUE EMPLOYEES of Dell and Nvidia have been implicated in an insider trading racket that brought in over $60m, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The FBI's Operation Perfect Hedge has been looking into alleged insider trading at a number of firms, and the latest arrests include seven men that it claims have "friendship or business association, directly or through intermediaries" with Dell and Nvidia. Through their connections the suspects were able to learn of financial information prior to its public disclosure, effectively making sure bets on the stock price with inside knowledge.

According to the FBI the evidence includes emails, instant messages and phone calls among the defendants. The FBI said Sandy Goyal, a one-time Dell employee who had worked with Jesse Tortora allegedly passed information over to two other defendants, Danny Kuo and Jon Horvath.

The FBI claims it was Tortora who acted as a hub for Dell financial data, supplying four different hedge funds that the FBI did not identify. It was Kuo who allegedly had an insider at Nvidia and in turn funnelled information to Tortora.

So far the FBI has charged over 60 people as part of Operation Perfect Hedge, which is looking into insider trading. Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director in charge at the FBI had some harsh words for others who try to profit from inside information, saying, "what distinguishes you from the dozens who have been charged is not that you haven't been caught; it's that you haven't been caught yet".

Stearn words indeed from Ms Fedarcyk, but as that old adage on Wall Street goes, it's only insider trading if you get caught. µ