The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently granted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for summary judgment in its insider trading case against attorney Gene Daniel Levoff, who previously served as the global head of corporate law and the corporate secretary for Apple Inc. The SEC reports that Levoff was responsible for reviewing and approving the company’s insider trading policy and ensuring employees’ compliance with the policy and U.S. securities laws. As a result of the ruling, Levoff was ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in civil penalties, which represents treble the amount of his illegal trades.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Levoff obtained material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) about Apple’s quarterly earnings while serving on a committee of senior executives who reviewed the company’s draft earnings before they were released to the public. Based on this confidential information, Levoff allegedly traded Apple securities ahead of three quarterly earnings announcements in 2015 and 2016, generating profits and avoiding losses that totaled approximately $382,000.
In addition to the civil penalty, the Court found that Levoff violated the antifraud provisions of the 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 Court also granted the SEC’s request for a permanent injunction and an officer-and director bar. The Court ruled that disgorgement and prejudgment interest had been satisfied by a forfeiture payment made in connection with a parallel criminal action. In 2019, Levoff was indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve counts of securities and wire fraud. The criminal case was resolved in June 2022 after Levoff pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges.