Litigation Release No. 17785 / October 15, 2002
Federal Judge Permanently Enjoins John Patrick Fitzgerald
Securities and Exchange Commission v. John Patrick Fitzgerald, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Civil Action No. 1:02-CV-489-JEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that the Honorable Julie E. Carnes, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, entered a Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction as to Defendant John Patrick Fitzgerald ("Fitzgerald"), restraining and enjoining him from further violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Fitzgerald consented to the entry of the judgment without admitting or denying any of the allegations of the Commission's complaint. The Court ordered disgorgement against Fitzgerald in the amount of $122,424, plus prejudgment interest thereon of $19,653. The Court also imposed a civil penalty of $51,385 and declined to impose additional penalties based upon Fitzgerald's sworn statement of financial condition.
The Commission's complaint, filed on February 21, 2002, alleged insider trading by Fitzgerald, CheckFree's vice president of financial planning and analysis. The complaint alleged that on February 2, 2000, an executive officer of CheckFree told Fitzgerald that CheckFree had agreed to merge with TransPoint, a joint venture of Microsoft Corporation, First Data Corporation, and Citibank, N.A. Between February 9, 2000, and February 15, 2000, Fitzgerald purchased a total of 5,857 shares of CheckFree stock on three separate days, including the day of the merger announcement, at an average price of $64.54 per share. On February 18, 2000, Fitzgerald sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $82.085 per share. In less than two weeks, Fitzgerald received a gain of $102,770.87 on an investment of $377,981.69.
See also: L.R. 17370 (February 21, 2002)