SEC bars Long Island broker for insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred Tibor Klein, a former investment adviser and registered representative, for having used material, non-public information to purchase King Pharmaceuticals stock for himself and his clients before Pfizer Inc. purchased the company in 2010. In a complaint, the SEC also alleged that Mr. Klein, who operated Klein Financial Services in Valley Stream, N.Y., from October 2009 through October 2016, gave the acquisition information to a good friend, who was associated with a registered broker-dealer, and who also purchased King shares based on Mr. Klein's tip. In February, Mr. Klein was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to insider trading. He also was sentenced to six months of house arrest and 250 hours of community service, according to a Reuters report, and ordered to forfeit $37,225 and pay a $20,000 fine. Last July, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The SEC bar is the result of the commission's civil charges against Mr. Klein, which were filed in September 2013 but put on hold until the resolution of the criminal case.