BOSTON (WHDH) - A Needham police officer and two others were arrested Wednesday for allegedly conspiring to trade on inside information about a Massachusetts company’s planned acquisition of a California semiconductor company.
David Forte, 58, of Acton; John Younis, 59, of Bristol, R.I.; and Gregory Manning, 59, of Needham, are slated to appear in federal court in Boston to each face a charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Mass.
Beginning in or around June 22, 2016, Forte, an officer with the Needham Police Department, obtained non-public information from a close relative who is a senior executive at Analog Devices, Inc., a Norwood-based semiconductor company, about Analog’s planned acquisition of Linear Technology Corp., a semiconductor company based in Milpitas, Calif., according to the attorney’s office.
Forte allegedly passed the information to two close friends, Manning and Younis, who the attorney’s office says purchased shares of Linear stock in the week leading up to the public announcement of the acquisition on July 26, 2016.
Younis also allegedly purchased call options, which are a bet that the price of a stock will increase prior to the expiration of the option, and tipped a business associate to purchase Linear shares as well.
After the deal was announced, Manning, Younis, and Younis’ associate sold their Linear securities at a profit, and Manning paid Forte a kickback in appreciation for Forte’s stock tip, the attorney’s office said.
No additional information was immediately available.
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