A former SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager was convicted Thursday of helping his company earn more than a quarter of a billion dollars illegally through trades based on secrets about the testing of a potential breakthrough Alzheimer's drug.
A federal jury in Manhattan found Mathew Martoma, 39, guilty on all three of the conspiracy and securities fraud charges that he faced, in what prosecutors said was a scheme that netted SAC Capital $275 million.
The verdict capped a three-week trial that featured testimony from two prominent doctors who confessed spilling secrets to Martoma during lucrative consultations with financiers.
Martoma faces up to 45 years in prison.
"Cheating may have been profitable for Martoma, but in the end, it made him a convicted felon, and likely will result in the forfeiture of his illegal windfall and the loss of his liberty," said Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, in a statement.
Martoma becomes the 79th person convicted of insider trading after trial or by guilty plea in the Southern District of New York over the past four years.
