Former Oppenheimer broker pleads guilty to insider trading

A former Oppenheimer & Co. investment adviser in Providence, R.I. has pled guilty to an insider trading scheme involving a pharmaceutical company. David Hobson, 47, admitted that he exploited inside information provided by his friend and client, Michael Maciocio, to reap illegal profits, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in an Oct. 25 statement. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud. “With Maciocio's earlier guilty plea, both participants in this illegal insider trading scheme have now admitted to their crimes,” U.S. Attorney Bharara said. From May 2008 to April 2014, they participated in a scheme to commit insider trading tied to acquisitions that were being considered by the pharma company, according to the statement. The company was not identified in the statement but Law 360 identified the firm as Pfizer Inc. Mr. Maciocio learned about the impending transactions through his role as a master planner in the company's active pharmaceutical ingredient supply chain group. He then traded on his own behalf and tipped off Mr. Hobson, who was Mr. Maciocio's investment adviser and broker for many years, to makes trades for them both, according to the statement. Mr. Hobson also used the inside information to trade in client accounts at two brokerage firms where he worked. He was employed by Oppenheimer and RBC Capital Markets at the time of the insider trading, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.'s BrokerCheck. Mr. Maciocio, 46, pled guilty on May 20 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of securities fraud, according to the statement.