Former U.S. congressman Buyer charged with insider trading ahead of telecoms merger

• Ex-U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer charged with insider trading for purchases of Sprint stock.
• Buyer, a Republican, represented Indiana in Congress from 1993 to 2011.
• Prosecutors claim he made $223,000 in profit trading in Navigant Consulting after learning non-public information.

NEW YORK, 25 JULY (Reuters) – Prosecutors said on Monday that former U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer was charged with insider trading for purchases of Sprint stock before the company merged with T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O).

According to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, Buyer, a Republican who represented Indiana in Congress from 1993 to 2011, was working as a consultant to T-Mobile ahead of the 2018 merger.

Prosecutors claimed he used non-public information obtained through his consulting work to purchase 112,675 Sprint shares in four brokerage accounts prior to the April 29 merger announcement, earning a profit of approximately $126,000.

Prosecutors claim that the following year, Buyer made $223,000 in profit trading in professional services firm Navigant Consulting Inc after learning non-public information that it would soon be acquired by Guidehouse, his consulting firm.

Buyer faces four counts of securities fraud and related civil charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the alleged transactions.

Buyer’s lawyer could not be found right away.

Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, was scheduled to address the charges against Buyer and six other people in four unrelated insider trading cases later on Monday.

Williams, a Biden appointee, has made combating financial crime a priority on his agenda.

In April, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Bill Hwang with fraud and racketeering in connection with the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, the private investment firm he founded.

Williams’ office reached a $6 billion settlement with Germany’s Allianz SE (ALVG.DE) in May over the failure of investment funds managed by the firm’s asset management division in the United States.

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