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NEW YORK — A Florida trader pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminal charges that he made trades based on inside information he got from a former Lehman Brothers broker.
Jamil Bouchareb, 27, of Miami Beach entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to charges of conspiracy and securities fraud.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Bouchareb agreed to serve up to four years in prison in return for pleading to charges that could otherwise carry a sentence of up to 25 years. He also must forfeit more than $1.5 million in profits from trades. Sentencing was set for Aug. 5.
Prosecutors say Bouchareb made trades based on tips from a broker who got his information from his wife, a partner at a high-powered public relations firm, between 2004 and 2008.
At one point during Bouchareb's plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said he was disappointed that Bouchareb did not more forcefully admit his crimes. At times, Bouchareb said he assumed information he learned was secret but did not know for sure until later on.
Brodsky said the government could prove that Bouchareb knew the information he was getting from former Lehman Brothers broker Matthew C. Devlin was secret and that he traded on it anyway.
"They did it over and over and over again," Brodsky said.
Devlin pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit insider trading and securities fraud, admitting that he passed along inside secrets he learned from his wife to others, enabling them to earn $4.8 million in profits.
Bouchareb said that he and a trading partner provided gifts to Devlin, including dinners and tuition at a Porsche driving school.
"Were you intentionally trading on inside information?" a magistrate judge asked Bouchareb.
"After a certain time, yes," he answered.
