On June 22, 2026, John “Clams” Lowe and Richard Ringel pleaded guilty in the federal court in Brooklyn to securities fraud for their roles in a multi-year insider trading scheme involving trades made ahead of public offerings. In 2025, federal prosecutors charged Lowe, Ringel, and two others with securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy for their roles in the scheme. Codefendants David Cooper, a FINRA-registered broker, and Randy Grewal previously pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges on September 22, 2025 and April 30, 2026, respectively. Lowe is currently scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2026, and Ringel is scheduled to be sentenced on October 6, 2026.
According to federal prosecutors, from approximately January 2018 to May 2024, the defendants conspired to obtain material non-public information (“MNPI”) about upcoming secondary stock offerings—including issuer identity, deal timing, deal structure, and offering price—and trade securities before those offerings were publicly announced. As part of the scheme, the MNPI was obtained from investment banks and broker-dealer employees involved in underwriting secondary stock offerings, including Cooper and another unnamed broker-dealer employee (“Broker-Dealer”) who allegedly shared the information with Lowe, Ringel and other customers to induce them to buy shares in the offerings so the Broker-Dealer would receive compensation from the underwriters. According to federal prosecutors, Cooper and the Broker-Dealer breached a duty of confidentiality owed to their employer when they willfully shared information about the timing and/or pricing of secondary offerings with knowledge that Lowe and Ringel intended to trade in securities based on the information. Lowe allegedly shared the MNPI with Grewal who also purchased securities based on the tips. Lowe, Ringel, and Grewal allegedly made more than $1 million in illegal profits from the scheme.
On January 15, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil charges against all four defendants and several entities under their control, for their alleged roles in the insider trading scheme. The defendants were charged with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and the SEC sought permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The SEC agreed to stay the civil proceedings until the criminal case is concluded.
USAO EDNY Press Release | Indictment | Docket Minute Entries – Guilty Pleas | SEC Press Release – January 2025 | SEC Complaint | Notice of Motion to Stay Civil Proceedings)