The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two people Thursday with insider trading on news of a proposed $2.5 billion acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. by Apollo Tyres Ltd.
According to the SEC, the trading resulted in profits of more than $1.1 million. The deal between Cooper and Apollo was never completed.
The SEC alleged Amit Kanodia, a private-equity investor, tipped Iftikar Ahmed, a general partner at a venture-capital firm, after learning of a deal from his wife. At the time, the SEC alleged, Kanodia’s wife was the general counsel at Apollo.
A spokesperson for Ahmed declined to comment, and Kanodia couldn’t be reached for comment.
A friend of Kanodia, identified in the complaint as Tippee 1, also was accused of profiting by trading on the confidential information provided by Kanodia, to whom he paid a portion of his related profits.
The agency alleged that Ahmed later transferred $220,000 to Lincoln Charitable Foundation, which the SEC said Kanodia controlled.
The SEC complaint charged
Kanodia and Ahmed with violating federal antifraud laws and a related SEC antifraud rule. The agency said it is seeking to have the defendants return their alleged profits with interest and pay civil monetary penalties.
