Collins, who was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump's presidential bid, surrendered this morning at his attorney's office in Manhattan, according to the FBI.
According to CNN, his attorneys are using a defense that claims that he did not purchase any of the stock in question. That is all well and good, but in this day, you don't need to buy the stock in order to violate insider trading laws - sharing inside information with others is a violation.
The Washington Post is reporting that allegation is that the congressman shared bad news about a drug trial a company he himself in an insider in, with his son before it was announced publicly. According to the WP, his son traded on the information and passed the news along to his fiance's father who also sold the stock. The government alleges that the trades allowed the two to avoid $768,000 in losses.
The indictment is not on Pacer at this time, we will update the post when it is available.
---
The attorneys at Sallah Astarita & Cox include veteran securities litigators and former SEC Enforcement Attorneys. We have decades of experience in securities litigation matters, including the defense of insider trading and enforcement actions. We represent investors, financial professionals and investment firms, nationwide. For more information call 212-509-6544 or send an email.
