A Goldman Sachs vice president used an overseas friend’s brokerage account to make $140,000 off illegal trades based on insider knowledge, according to charges lodged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
Woojae “Steve” Jung worked in the bank’s New York and San Francisco offices. He apparently made those trades between 2015 and 2017, based on his access to confidential information about upcoming deals on which Goldman (GS) was advising.
The companies whose securities Jung traded included SanDisk, Qualcomm and WebMD.
His pal in South Korea, Sungrok Hwang, has also been named as a defendant in order to force him to help return the alleged illicit profits that Jung made.
“Like others before him, Jung’s alleged scheme failed when our data analysis uncovered the account’s suspicious trading pattern and, despite Jung’s attempts at evasion, traced the trading back to him,” said SEC Market Abuse Unit chief Joseph Sansone.
The SEC didn’t actually name Goldman Sachs in its statement, but LinkedIn shows the Wharton grad worked at the bank since 2012. Indeed, it says he still works for Goldman Sachs in the Bay Area. According to Reuters, the investment bank has put him on leave.
“We are aware of the situation regarding Mr. Jung and are cooperating with legal authorities on the matter,” Goldman Sachs spokesperson Michael DuVally told CNN.