First criminal insider trading case filed by Joon H. Kim.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged Indian American Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy, with insider trading.

Krishnamoorthy, a vice president in the risk management department of Nomura Securities, a New York-based investment bank allegedly used the confidential information of a private equity firm’s acquisition to conduct insider trading.

Krishnamoorthy had prior information on Golden Gate Capital’s plan to acquire Neustar Inc. He then began trading in Neustar securities through two brokerages accounts that Krishnamoorthy allegedly kept hidden from his employer, which had been approached by Golden Gate Capital to finance the transaction.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Krishnamoorthy made approximately $48,000 in illicit profits.

“As alleged in our complaint, Krishnamoorthy was entrusted with confidential, market-moving information by his employer and he misused it for personal gain,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.

On the other hand, another case has been lodged by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today with criminal charges against Krishnamoorthy.

According to SEC, it has sought emergency courts assistance in freezing all assets in the brokerage accounts maintained by Krishnamoorthy and his wife. Krishnamoorthy’s wife has been named as a relief defendant in the SEC’s complaint for purposes of recovering allegedly ill-gotten gains in the account in her name.

Krishnamoorthy is charged for violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 as well as Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.

The SEC’s investigation is being conducted by Alison R. Levine, Preethi Krishnamurthy, Neil Hendelman, and Thomas P. Smith Jr.

The litigation will be led by Ms. Krishnamurthy and Ms. Levine. The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa.

This is the first criminal insider trading case filed by Joon H. Kim who succeeded Indian American Preet Bharara in March after Trump fired him as part of his administration reshuffling.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy is charged with violating his duty to his company and trading on insider information. He allegedly exploited his access to information about a pending acquisition to purchase stock and options, making tens of thousands of dollars in illegal profit for himself. This Office remains committed to enforcing the nation’s securities laws to protect the fairness and integrity of the markets.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “When one has access to material nonpublic information, they are afforded significant knowledge that could give them a competitive edge in stock and options trading. But, as we all know, it’s illegal to use this information in furtherance of personal gain. As alleged today, Krishnamoorthy ignored these rules, using the information at his fingertips to his advantage, and made personal profits in the tens of thousands. The FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and prosecute those who cheat the system in this way.”