A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday allowed a former Illumina Inc. accountant to avoid prison after she testified to passing secret earnings information about the California gene tech company to a San Diego speculator currently in prison for insider trading.
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NY Feds Say Trader Sought Illegal Edge, Driven By Greed
Law360, New York (June 25, 2021, 8:20 PM EDT) Federal prosecutors on Friday began their final pitch to New York jurors weighing the fate of California trader Donald Blakstad in his insider trading and investment fraud trial, saying Blakstad was guilty of two separate schemes that shared a common theme: greed.
Blakstad and others allegedly obtained $6 million from 2016 to 2019 by trading Illumina options based on information from Patty Bustos, a 33-year-old former company accountant who pled guilty to fraud.
Prosecutors also contend that Blakstad defrauded investors in his energy concern, Midcontinental Petroleum Inc., and other ventures. Blakstad took in more than $3.5 million from backers, the feds.
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