Saturday, July 8, 2023

Insider Traders on Trump Media SPAC Deal Case Wheeled to Judge for July 20 Arraignment


by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 5 – As the third of four insider trading prosecutions announced on June 29, 2023 by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman, and Bruce Garelick were charged with making more than $22 million dollars in illegal profits by trading in securities of Digital World Acquisition Corporation based on MNPI about DWAC’s planned but not yet public business combination with a media company founded by former President Donald J. Trump.  

  The four prosecutions come a week after the conviction in SDNY of Brijesh Goel, formerly of Goldman Sachs. Goel testified on his own behalf in a trial covered by Inner City Press, which is also reporteding weekly on the SDNY prosecutors murky deal with Sam Bankman-Fried to agree to extradition from the Bahamas apparently in exchange for not seeking detention (unlike on Avi Eisenberg) and now with the China bribe charges severed or dropped. 

  GARELICK was given a seat on DWAC’s board of directors, which gave him access to valuable MNPI about DWAC’s plans to merge with Trump Media.  After learning MNPI through his role on DWAC’s board, GARELICK provided updates to his alleged co-conspirators — which he called “intelligence” — about the status of the merger negotiations and the timing of a public merger announcement. 

In violation of the non-disclosure agreements that they had signed, and in contravention of GARELICK’s duties and responsibilities as a board member, the defendants bought millions of dollars of DWAC securities on the open market before the news of the Trump Media business combination was public.

 In addition to their own purchases, the defendants also passed DWAC’s confidential information to their friends on a trip to Las Vegas, to MICHAEL SHVARTSMAN’s neighbors, and to GERALD SHVARTSMAN’s employees at a furniture supply store.

On July 5, the case was assigned - wheeled out - to Judge Lewis J. Liman: "NOTICE OF HEARING as to Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman, Bruce Garelick: An Arraignment and Initial Conference is scheduled for July 20, 2023 at 12:00 PM in Courtroom 15C, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007 before Judge Lewis J. Liman."

   Just another Trump-related case in and around the SDNY - Inner City Press is covering them all.

 This case is US v. Shvartsman, et al., 23-cr-307 

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