Hedge fund manager pleads guilty

Former hedge fund trader Mark Lenowitz pleaded guilty to profiting from inside tips allegedly leaked by a former UBS Securities LLC executive. Mr. Lenowitz, who was among 13 people accused in the case, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy and a charge of securities fraud at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein. Those charged in the case netted about $8 million in illicit profit, according to a Reuters report. Mr. Lenowitz, who had worked as a stock picker for hedge funds Chelsey Capital and Q Capital Investment Partners, admitted in U.S. District Court in New York to trading on nonpublic information he received about upcoming upgrades and downgrades by UBS stock analysts, according to published reports. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on the most serious charge when he is sentenced on Jan. 18. Mr.Lenowitz agreed to forfeit more than $337,000 as part of the plea deal. Prosecutors said that Mr. Lenowitz obtained the ratings tips from Erik Franklin, a hedge fund colleague who bought the inside information from former UBS executive Mitchel Guttenberg Six other defendants, including Franklin have entered guilty pleas.