Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Reward Law Designed to Expose Financial Fraud and Investment Fraud

Matthew H. Kluger and Garrett D. Bauer

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Matthew H. Kluger and Garrett D. Bauer, Case No. 11-cv-1936 (D.N.J. April 6, 2011) (KSH-PS); Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kenneth T. Robinson, Case No. 12-cv-2438 (D.N.J. April 25, 2011) (KSH-PS)

ATTORNEY, WALL STREET TRADER, AND MIDDLEMAN SETTLE SEC CHARGES IN $32 MILLION INSIDER TRADING CASE

Washington, D.C., April 25, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a settlement in a $32 million insider trading case filed by the agency last year against a corporate attorney and a Wall Street trader.

The SEC alleged that the insider trading occurred in advance of at least 11 merger and acquisition announcements involving clients of the law firm where the attorney – Matthew H. Kluger – worked. He and the trader – Garrett D. Bauer – were linked through a mutual friend now identified as Kenneth T. Robinson, who acted as a middleman to facilitate the illegal tips and trades. Kluger and Bauer used public telephones and prepaid disposable mobile phones to communicate with Robinson in an effort to avoid detection. Robinson, now also charged, cooperated in the SEC’s investigation.
Bauer, Kluger, and Robinson each agreed to give up their ill-gotten gains plus interest in order to settle the SEC’s charges. Those amounts under the terms of their consent agreements are approximately $31.6 million for Bauer, $516,000 for Kluger, and $845,000 for Robinson.

Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Reward Law Designed to Expose Financial Fraud and Investment Fraud

 Two relatively new whistleblower recovery laws are section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act (SEC Whistleblower Bounty Actions), and section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act (CFTC Whisteblower Bounty Actions).    These laws were passed in the wake of Financial Market Melt Down in 2008 and in response to massive fraud in the financial markets.  These whistleblower recovery laws are designed to encourage people with specialized knowledge of significant investment fraud, securities fraud, SEC violations, commodity futures fraud, violations of the foreign corrupt practices act, and other financial fraud.  These whistleblower reward laws were designed to protect whistleblowers that step up and blow the whistle on financial fraud.