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Broker Avoids Prison after Stealing Corporate Secrets from Wife by Surajit Sen Sharma
On Friday, Matthew Devlin, 38, pleaded guilty to charges of having stolen corporate secrets from his executive wife and sharing them with friends. Devlin, a former Lehman Brothers broker narrowly avoided prison, while the judge described his crime as a “tragic and senseless” act for a paltry gain of $23, 000.
03/26/12
was an executive at Brunswick Group and worked with clients on mergers and acquisitions. She is no longer
Devlin walked away with
working at the firm, though she is not accused of any
a light sentence as he
wrongdoing.
cooperated with the authorities (sometimes wearing a recording device) and helped the authorities convict
The information that Devlin traded was obtained by
four persons and obtain civil judgment against two
listening to his wife’s conversations and assessing
others in insider trading cases.
the implications of her travel schedule. The illegally obtained information included deals like the acquisition
William Pauley, the U.S. District Judge who sentenced
of Novartis AG by Eon Labs in 2005, InBev’s acquisition
Devlin to three years’ probation commented “He
of Anheuser-Busch, and Electronic Arts Inc’s hostile bid
betrayed the trust of everyone … All of it completely
in 2008 for Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
tragic and senseless for a sum of money that to his benefit was a rounding error in his compensation.”
Though Devlin received only a paltry sum in exchange of his betrayal of the trust of his wife, four of his
Devlin, who was in tears, told the judge that his
friends made millions trading on the inside information.
conduct was “reckless, selfish and inexcusable.” While
The office of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney requested
sentencing Devlin, the court also took into account the
the court to be lenient towards Devlin considering his
facts that Devlin is now the primary care provider for
role in helping to convict the four persons.
the couple’s three-year old son, and that he did not have any career left in the industry. He betrayed his
The other four who pleaded guilty were Miami day
wife for a paltry sum, and was compelled to betray his
traders Jamil Bouchareb, Daniel Corbin, Frederick
friends in crime later to save his own skin.
Bowers, and Eric Holzer – a former tax lawyer at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in New York.
Devlin’s crime was exposed in December 2008 by the media with details of his betrayal of his wife, Nina
The case is USA v Devlin, U.S. District Court for the
Devlin, who was a public relations executive. Nina
Southern District of New York, No. 08-01307.
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