SEC charges RIA with insider trading
Former NFL player Jack Brewer allegedly used nonpublic information to sell shares in COPsync
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Jack Brewer, a St. Louis Park, Minnesota, registered investment adviser, with insider trading in the securities of COPsync Inc.
Brewer, a former NFL player who owns Brewer Capital Management and a related consulting firm, Brewer Group, sold more than $100,000 of COPsync stock in advance of a company announcement that caused the stock price to fall, the SEC said.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Brewer consulted for COPsync, where he obtained material, nonpublic information about the company’s plans to do a stock offering. According to the complaint, Brewer participated in the offering, and the purchase agreement contained a clause obligating him not to sell any shares of the company prior to the announcement of the offering.
Despite his obligations to the company to maintain confidentiality and not to use the confidential information for his own benefit, on Jan. 4 and 5, 2017, Brewer allegedly sold his shares before the company announced the stock offering. This allowed him to profit by approximately $35,000 more than he would have had he waited to sell his shares after COPsync issued its press release, the SEC said.
The SEC is seeking a permanent injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a civil penalty and a penny stock bar.
[More: SEC cites deficiencies in Form CRS filings]
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