Security Bullet In
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Tuesday 1 July 2008, 3:49 PM
IT guy busted over insider trading
An IT professional has been fined £85,000 for insider trading, Management Today reports.
The fine was imposed by the Financial Services Authority on John Shevlin, who used to work at the Body Shop. He was found to have used his position to log into private emails and access insider information.
The FSA said that it couldn't directly prove Shevlin was guilty, but that there was "compelling circumstantial evidence" to indicate he was.
Shevlin borrowed £29,000 to take a short position over 80,000 Body Shop shares, just before a profit warning was issued. Shevlin made just under £40,000 in a day.
In the words of Management Today:
"[Shevlin] claimed that he’d just made a savvy prediction based on the over-valued share price. But despite this expertise, he’d only ever made two trades before in his life – both in the Body Shop. And this was a huge bet: he borrowed more than his annual salary, took a position worth twice as much as his entire net assets, and accounted for a quarter of all the shares traded that day. Plus he did it all in his own name, in his own company, the day before a profit warning. Even the FSA couldn’t miss an open goal like that..."
The fine was imposed by the Financial Services Authority on John Shevlin, who used to work at the Body Shop. He was found to have used his position to log into private emails and access insider information.
The FSA said that it couldn't directly prove Shevlin was guilty, but that there was "compelling circumstantial evidence" to indicate he was.
Shevlin borrowed £29,000 to take a short position over 80,000 Body Shop shares, just before a profit warning was issued. Shevlin made just under £40,000 in a day.
In the words of Management Today:
"[Shevlin] claimed that he’d just made a savvy prediction based on the over-valued share price. But despite this expertise, he’d only ever made two trades before in his life – both in the Body Shop. And this was a huge bet: he borrowed more than his annual salary, took a position worth twice as much as his entire net assets, and accounted for a quarter of all the shares traded that day. Plus he did it all in his own name, in his own company, the day before a profit warning. Even the FSA couldn’t miss an open goal like that..."
PreviousComments on this post
He was easy pickings, the real crooks will never be caught.
