The federal indictment charges Peter Talbot used confidential information from his employer that he and Carl Binette used to purchase several shares of stock that they later sold for a $615,000 profit.
BOSTON - An East Longmeadow man and his nephew were charged Thursday in federal court with conspiracy to commit insider trading after they used confidential information from one of their employers to purchase stock and then sell it at a $615,000 profit, officials said.
Peter E. Talbot, 42, of East Longmeadow, and his nephew, Carl E. Binette, 29, of Ludlow, were charged in a seven-count indictment with conspiracy and securities fraud. Binette was also charged with obstruction of justice.
The indictment charges that in April 2008, Talbot learned through his job with Hartford Investment Management Company that the company was looking to buy the Safeco Corp. insurance company.
Talbot and Binette then set up an online brokerage account and purchased several shares of Safeco stock. After Safeco was purchased by another company, Liberty Mutual, the pair sold their shares, netting a $615,000 profit, the indictment states.
Binette was also charged with making several false statements to investigators.
If convicted, Talbot and Binette face up to five years in prison and a fines of up to $1.2 million for each conspiracy count and $5 million for each securities fraud count.