Trump Media investor convicted of insider trading ahead of merger
Source: CNBC
Published Thu, May 9 2024 1:51 PM EDT Updated 27 Min Ago
A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media. The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the publicly traded company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time he was accused of sharing and exploiting non--public information with others about its plans to merge with then-privately held Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app.
Trump Media’s majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Garelick in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
But Garelick’s trial, which began on April 30, took place just blocks away from where Trump is on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on criminal charges related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Two co-defendants of Garelick, the brothers Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges on April 3.
Jurors in Garelick’s case began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and a defense lawyer. After several hours of deliberation Thursday, jurors returned guilty verdicts on the five counts of securities fraud and conspiracy that the 54-year-old Garelick faced. Garelick, who testified at his trial, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/trump-media-investor-convicted-of-insider-trading-ahead-of-merger.html
Article updated.
Previous articles -
A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media. The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time it was negotiating plans to merge with Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app.
Trump Media's majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Garelick in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. But Garelick's trial, which began on April 30, took place just blocks away from where Trump is on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on criminal charges related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Two co-defendants of Garelick, the brothers Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges on April 3. Jurors in Garelick's case began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and a defense lawyer.
"Bruce Garelick was part of a sophisticated group of individuals invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corporation ..., a special purpose acquisition company that had raised funds with the intention of later investing in a target company, Trump Media & Technology Group, not yet known to the public," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.
A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media. The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time it was negotiating plans to merge with Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app.
Trump Media's majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Garelick in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
"Bruce Garelick was part of a sophisticated group of individuals invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corporation ..., a special purpose acquisition company that had raised funds with the intention of later investing in a target company, Trump Media & Technology Group, not yet known to the public," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.
"When he was given that opportunity, Garelick promised to keep the information about DWAC's interest in acquiring Trump Media secret and not use it to trade in the stock market. Garelick was also given a seat on DWAC's board, which gave him direct access to additional non-public information regarding the acquisition," Williams said.
A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in a company's stock ahead of the firm's announcement that it would merge with Trump Media.
The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time it was negotiating plans to merge with Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app.
Trump Media's majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in a company's stock ahead of the firm's announcement that it would merge with Trump Media.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Original article -
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
= new reply since forum marked as read
is anyone surprised by this? 
And all before that orange gibbon's trial has even gotten a head of steam. Makes one wonder, doesn't it?
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