U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 23957 / October 3, 2017
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Arun J. Singh, No. 3:17-cv-07786 (D.N.J. filed Oct. 3, 2017)
SEC Charges New Jersey Doctor with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against a New Jersey-based doctor who allegedly bought shares in a Long Beach, CA-based supply chain services company based on confidential information about an acquisition he learned from one of the company’s executives and then sold the shares at a profit once the acquisition became public.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that an executive of DSV Air & Sea Holdings A/V, a Danish transport and logistics services company that was in negotiations to acquire UTi Worldwide Inc., told Arun J. Singh, who was a friend of the executive, material nonpublic information concerning the potential acquisition. The SEC alleges that between September 21and 23, 2015, based on what his friend told him in confidence, Singh bought 7,105 shares of UTi, at an average price of $5.81 per share. According to the complaint, on the morning of October 9, 2015, DSV and UTi publicly announced that they had entered into an agreement for DSV to acquire UTi at a price of $7.10 per share, which represented a significant premium over the recent market price of UTi stock. Following the public announcement, the market price of UTi shares increased that day over 50% on heavy trading, closing at $7.13 per share. As alleged in the complaint, Singh sold 6,600 shares of his recently purchased UTi stock that day, and sold his remaining 505 shares in January 2016. The SEC alleges that Singh earned $8,330 in illegal profits from insider trading in UTi stock.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Singh with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, Singh consented to the entry of a final judgment that permanently enjoins him from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and orders him to pay $8,330 in disgorgement, $527 in prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $24,990, for a total of $33,847.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Brian T. Fitzsimons and supervised by Brian O. Quinn and Scott W. Friestad. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23957.htm