Manager At Stamford's SAC Capital Found Guilty Of Insider Trading

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Michael Steinberg, a portfolio manager of Sigma Capital Management, a division of Stamford-based hedge fund SAC Capital, was found guilty recently in Manhattan federal court for his participation in an insider trading scheme.

by Eric Gendron

12/27/2013 4:00 a.m.

According to a press release from the court, Steinberg traded in the securities of two publicly traded technology companies, Dell Inc. and NVIDIA Corp., based on inside information that his research analyst Jon Horvath obtained from a circle of analyst friends at different investment firms.

Horvath previously pleaded guilty to insider trading, as did analysts Jesse Tortora, formerly of Diamondback Capital, Spyridon “Sam” Adondakis, formerly of Level Global, Danny Kuo, formerly of Whittier Trust, and Sandeep Goyal, formerly of Neuberger Berman.

Steinberg’s trading in Dell and NVIDIA resulted in $1.9 million in illegal profits for his hedge fund.

Steinberg was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and four counts of securities fraud. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Each of the securities-fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25.

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