Gabriel Rebeiz
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26231 / Jan. 22, 2025
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gabriel Rebeiz, No. 3:25-cv-00124 (S.D. Cal. filed Jan. 21, 2025)
SEC Charges Technical Consultant with Insider Trading
On January 21, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed settled charges against Gabriel Rebeiz, an electrical engineering professor at a California public university, for insider trading in advance of a February 14, 2022 announcement that a subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing Ltd. would acquire Resonant Inc., a company in the radio frequency filters industry.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Rebeiz served on Resonant’s Technical Advisory Committee and had access to Resonant’s proprietary information, which impressed him and led him to encourage Resonant executives to sell the company. The complaint alleges that after several months of continuing to encourage a sale of the company, on January 19, 2022, Rebeiz called a Resonant executive, who allegedly made a statement to Rebeiz suggesting that there was an impending acquisition. The complaint further asserts that Rebeiz purchased 60,000 shares of Resonant stock the next day and purchased an additional 60,000 shares over the next few weeks. Following the acquisition announcement, Resonant’s stock price increased by 257%, resulting in Rebeiz obtaining illegal trading profits of $360,673.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, charges Rebeiz with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the complaint’s allegations, Rebeiz has consented to entry of a final judgment that enjoins him from violating the charged provisions, orders him to pay disgorgement of the $360,673 in illicit profits with prejudgment interest of $65,560.25, orders him to pay a civil penalty of $360,673, and prohibits him from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years. The judgment is subject to court approval.
The case originated from the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious trading patterns. The investigation was conducted by Sara Kalin of the Market Abuse Unit, with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center and senior trial counsel Stephen Kam. The case was supervised by Assistant Regional Director Diana Tani and Market Abuse Unit Chief Joseph Sansone. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).