The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained a final judgment in an enforcement case it filed over eighteen months ago against Amit Dagar, a former Pfizer Inc. employee, and his close friend and business partner, Atul Bhiwapurkar, for engaging in alleged illegal insider by capitalizing on material, non-public information concerning Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment.
The Final Judgment entered in the SEC’s pending case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was based upon the defendants alleged violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, which the SEC uses to charge insider trading violations.
The SEC complaint alleged that Dagar, in his capacity as a Pfizer employee, had access to material, non-public information indicating that a randomized, double-blind study of Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment, Paxlovid, was successful. He is then claimed to have shared this inside information with Bhiwapurkar, and both traded the day before the company’s November 5, 2021, public announcement about the study. The SEC complaint stated: “Following that announcement in which Pfizer’s CEO referred to the news as a ‘game-changer’ in the global efforts to ‘halt the devastation’ of the pandemic, the company’s stock price increased by nearly 11 percent, the largest single-day price move in the stock since 2009.” The defendants’ trading generated profits of approximately $214,395 for Dagar and $60,300 for Bhiwapurkar.
Both Defendants consented to final judgments in the SEC case after a jury convicted Dagar, and Bhiwapurkar plead guilty, in a parallel criminal case. The SEC judgment permanently enjoined each from future violations of the anti-fraud provision of the federal securities laws for which they were charged.
In the Final Judgments, Dagar was ordered to pay disgorgement of $214,395 (his profit from the insider trading), plus prejudgment interest of $41,908, and Bhiwapurkar was ordered to pay disgorgement of $60,300, and a civil penalty of $60,300. All of the above-identified amounts, except the civil penalty for Bhiwapurkar, were deemed satisfied by the order of forfeiture in the parallel criminal cases.
Have Your Received a SEC Insider Trading Subpoena?
Insider trading lawyer David Chase, Esq. of the Law Firm of David R. Chase, has successfully represented individuals in SEC insider trading investigations around the nation for twenty-five years since leaving the SEC where he served as Senior Counsel in the Enforcement Division. If you have received a SEC insider trading subpoena and are looking for advice from an experienced insider trading attorney, contact David at: 800-760-0912 or e-mail him at: david@davidchaselaw.com. Visit the Firm’s website for more information on how to beat insider trading investigations and the firm’s prior insider trading successes at: www.securitiesfrauddefense.net.
