LITIGATION RELEASE No. 18308 / August 25, 2003
FORMER FINANCIAL ANALYST CRIMINALLY INDICTED
ON INSIDER TRADING AND OTHER FEDERAL CHARGES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. JAY LAVESON (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, C.A. No. 02 CV 11336 GAO)
The Commission announced today that, on August 19, 2003, Jay Laveson, of Atkinson, New Hampshire, was criminally indicted by the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont on insider trading, mail fraud, and wire fraud charges. Laveson is scheduled to be arraigned on September 12, 2003.
According to the indictment, Laveson was employed as a financial analyst by IDX Corporation Inc., Inc., a publicly-traded company based in South Burlington, Vermont. The indictment alleges that Laveson received confidential non-public information concerning potential merger targets for IDX and sensitive financial information about those merger targets and IDX, and he then used that information to trade in the stock of merger target companies, as well as IDX, for his own profit from early 1997 through early 1999. According to the indictment, Laveson made more than $120,000 from his insider trading. The indictment charges Laveson with one count of securities fraud, one count of mail fraud, and fourteen counts of wire fraud in connection with his insider trading activities. If convicted of all criminal charges, Laveson faces up to 310 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $4,250,000.
On July 2, 2002, the Commission filed a civil fraud case in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts charging Laveson with insider trading based primarily on the conduct described above. According to the Commission=s complaint, Laveson violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Laveson agreed to settle with the Commission by consenting, without admitting or denying the Commission=s allegations, to the entry of a judgment enjoining him from future violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and ordering him to disgorge the sum of $128,524. A final judgment by consent against Laveson was entered by the court on July 11, 2002. For further information, see Litigation Release No. 17596 (July 2, 2002).