The SEC Wednesday charged a former Apple executive with insider trading.
Gene Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary until September, “traded on material nonpublic information about Apple’s earnings three times during 2015 and 2016”, according to the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
“Levoff also had a previous history of insider trading, having traded on Apple’s material nonpublic information at least three additional times in 2011 and 2012. For the trading in 2015 and 2016, Levoff profited and avoided losses of approximately $382,000,” the complaint says.
Levoff’s position at Apple granted him insider access to not-yet-public earnings results and briefings on iPhone sales, the complaint says. On more than one occasion, he disobeyed the company’s “blackout” period for stock sales, offloading tens of millions of dollars worth of stock and avoiding downturns that followed poor earnings results, according to the lawsuit.
Levoff was put on leave from Apple in July 2018 and terminated in September, the suit says. Before his termination, Levoff was “responsible for Apple’s compliance with securities laws,” the SEC complaint says. Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
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