Ex-BigLaw clerk admits stealing deal info; his law classmate gave tips to broker, then ate the notes
A former managing clerk in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has admitted stealing deal information from its computer systems and taken a plea in an insider-trading case.
Steven Metro, now 41, is the third of three defendants in the Newark case to do so. None has yet been sentenced, a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the district of New Jersey says. The scheme took place between 2009 and 2013 and netted over $5.6 million in profits, the feds say.
Although Metro didn’t work on most of the mergers and acquisitions at issue in the prosecution, he found out about them by searching the law firm’s computer system for terms such as “due diligence” and “bid letter,” the release says. As he now admits, Metro then passed the information to his friend and former law classmate, Frank Tamayo, 42, as the two talked at eateries and other meeting spots near their respective Manhattan workplaces.
Tamayo wrote down the name or ticker symbol for the stock to be purchased and memorized the additional information. Later, he met with Morgan Stanley stockbroker Vladimir Eydelman, 43, at locations such as Grand Central Terminal’s giant four-faced central clock, showed him the written note and then reportedly chewed and swallowed it.
Both Metro and Eydelman lost their jobs when the scheme came to light, and neither Simpson Thacher nor Morgan Stanley is accused of any wrongdoing, Reuters reports.
Prosecutors say Eydelman reaped most of the $5.6 million in profits, while Metro received only $168,000, the news agency notes.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Fired Simpson Thacher managing clerk is indicted, accused of surfing firm computers for merger info”
