Winifred Jiau, a former consultant for Primary Global Research, was convicted on “securities fraud and conspiracy to pass along confidential information to hedge-fund managers through her job linking industry experts with investors,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Jiau got such valuable information from sources at companies including Nvidia and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. that hedge funds paid her as much as $10,000 a month for the tips.
The Jiau verdict comes close on the heels of Galleon’s Raj Rajaratnam’s high-profile conviction for insider trading, and in advance of what looks to be an even tougher general crackdown on illegal information sharing: The FBI has already begun visiting future targets at “expert network firms” with incriminating tape-recorded conversations in hopes of squeezing out some cooperation or extracting an early confession. Maybe just take it outside this summer! Seventy-eight and sunny today.
