Charlie Jinan Chen

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26247 / February 13, 2025

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Charlie Jinan Chen, et al., No. 1:18-cv-10657 (D. Mass. filed Apr. 5, 2018)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Massachusetts Man Found Liable in Multi-Year Insider Trading Scheme

On January 30, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against defendant Charlie Jinan Chen after jurors returned a verdict in February 2020 finding that Chen engaged in illegal insider trading in advance of five earnings announcements of Massachusetts-based company Vistaprint N.V.

The SEC's evidence at trial showed that Chen knowingly traded in the securities of Vistaprint, an e-commerce company, based on material non-public information provided to him by a family friend who was a Vistaprint insider or the friend’s spouse. According to the evidence, the information Chen received enabled him to purchase options ahead of several quarterly earnings announcements and profit from the resulting price movement. Chen traded both in a brokerage account in his own name and one in the name of his wife, and made nearly $900,000 from the scheme. The evidence at trial also showed that Chen lied to the FBI about his relationship with the Vistaprint insider.

The jury found Chen liable on all counts, finding that he violated the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The final judgment against Chen permanently enjoins him from violating the same antifraud provisions of the securities laws and orders him to pay a civil monetary penalty of $892,827.

The SEC’s litigation was handled by Susan Cooke of the Boston Regional Office. The investigation that led to the action was conducted by David H. London and John McCann of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office and Michele T. Perillo of the Market Abuse Unit in the Boston Regional Office.