Steven Teixeira, a compliance executive at a payments company, is facing charges of insider trading for allegedly accessing confidential deal information on his girlfriend’s laptop.
His girlfriend, an executive assistant at an investment bank, had left her laptop unattended during the workday and asked Teixeira to check for urgent emails.
However, he took advantage of the situation and repeatedly accessed her laptop to gather details on upcoming corporate transactions, which he then passed on to a friend, Jordan Meadow, a stockbroker.
Teixeira, who worked as the compliance chief for a U.S. unit of Chinese payments company LianLian Global, pleaded guilty to charges under a cooperation agreement, while Meadow was arrested by the Justice Department. The girlfriend has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
As a compliance executive, Teixeira was responsible for ensuring legal compliance within his company and was a certified anti-money-laundering specialist.
Teixeira used various tactics to access the confidential information, including using a device to simulate his girlfriend’s activity on the laptop to prevent it from locking.
He would search through her computer applications, access attachments, and even browse her work files to find information on meetings related to corporate deals. Teixeira then shared this information with Meadow, who compensated him with Rolex watches. The SEC estimates that Teixeira made around $29,000 from the scheme, while Meadow profited over $730,000.
Scott Thompson, associate regional director of the SEC’s Philadelphia office, referred to Teixeira’s actions as “misappropriating information from his girlfriend’s laptop to make a quick buck.”
The indictment revealed that Teixeira and his girlfriend had planned to marry but are no longer together, and she left her job at the bank in February. The specific companies involved were not disclosed by the SEC or the Justice Department.
