SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 16333 / October 14, 1999
SEC v. Arjun Sekhri, Amolak Sehgal, Pratima Rajan, Fuad Dow, Gordon W.
Cochrane, Martin L. Thifault, Rohina Sharma, and Sharad Kapoor,
defendants, and Mahendar Sekhri and Sharda Sekhri, relief defendants,
Civil Action No. 98 Civ. 2320 (S.D.N.Y.) (RPP);
United States v. Arjun Sekhri, A/K/A "A.J." 99 MAG. 1148 (S.D.N.Y.)
(MHD)
Former Salomon Smith Barney Investment Banking Associate Held on Criminal
Charges in Insider Trading Scheme
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
announced on October 12 that Arjun Sekhri, a former investment banking
associate at Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. in New York City, was
presented on criminal charges including insider trading, money
laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and
securities fraud. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz ordered Sekhri
detained pending trial. Sekhri fled the United States around the time
civil and criminal charges were filed against him in 1998. He was
arrested in Australia and subsequently waived extradition.
The charges against Sekhri arise out of an insider trading scheme in
which Sekhri misappropriated inside information from Salomon. On April
1, 1998, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an insider
trading case involving Sekhri and others in the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New York. The SEC's amended complaint,
filed on May 19, 1998, charges Sekhri and certain other individuals to
whom Sekhri supplied confidential information with illegal insider
trading. The SEC alleges that, from September 1997 through January
1998, Sekhri, Amolak Sehgal, Pratima Rajan, Fuad Dow, Gordon W.
Cochrane, Martin L. Thifault, Rohina Sharma, and Sharad Kapoor engaged
in a highly profitable insider trading scheme by collectively
purchasing call options and/or common stock shortly before six major
corporate announcements. The defendants reaped total profits of at
least $1.8 million from their illegal securities transactions.
The SEC alleges that Sekhri, the source of the inside information, was
an investment banking associate at Salomon at the time of the trading.
Salomon provided investment banking services in each of the relevant
corporate transactions and Sekhri worked specifically on at least one
of those transactions. Sekhri tipped Dow, Sekhri's former college
roommate. Dow then tipped Cochrane and Thifault, all three of whom
collectively purchased common stock and/or call options on the stock
of MCI Communications Corp., Brooks Fiber Properties, Inc., Carson
SNIPPETS:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SEC v. Arjun Sekhri, Amolak Sehgal, Pratima Rajan, Fuad Dow, Gordon W. Cochrane, Martin L.
United States v. Arjun Sekhri,
Former Salomon Smith Barney Investment Banking Associate Held on Criminal Charges in Insider
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on October 12 that
Sekhri fled the United States around the time civil and criminal charges were filed against
The charges against Sekhri arise out of an insider trading scheme in which Sekhri
On April 1, 1998, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an insider trading case
The SEC's amended complaint, filed on May 19, 1998, charges Sekhri and certain other
The defendants reaped total profits of at least $1.8 million from their illegal securities
The SEC alleges that Sekhri, the source of the inside information, was an investment banking
Salomon provided investment banking services in each of the relevant corporate transactions
Dow then tipped Cochrane and Thifault, all three of whom collectively purchased common stock
Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Dow, Cochrane, and Thifault settled the
On October 14, 1998, a final judgment was entered against Cochrane, which permanently
The judgment did not impose a civil penalty based on Cochrane's demonstrated inability to pay.
The judgment did not require Dow to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest in excess of
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