October 24, 2013 — In 2010, the U.S. Congress established a whistleblower program in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Conscientious informants who notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about securities law violations, such as insider trading, may be handsomely compensated for their willingness to collaborate with the SEC. Tipsters may receive as much as thirty percent of the government’s total recovery, provided it exceeds $1 million.
Government Charges Jing Wang With Using Offshore Entities in Insider Trading Scheme
Jing Wang, a former Executive Vice President and President of Global Business Operations for Qualcomm Inc., has been charged with insider trading in Qualcomm shares. Wang, a resident of Del Mar, California, allegedly employed a secret brokerage account and an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands to carry out the trades. According to the Justice Department, Wang conspired with his brother, Bing Wang, and his former stock broker, Gary Yin, to launder the proceeds and to obstruct an investigation by the SECinto the wrongdoing.
The Justice Department alleges that Wang, the former Qualcomm executive, used his Merrill Lynch broker, Yin, to form Unicorn Global Enterprises, an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands and then establish a Merrill Lynch brokerage account for Unicorn. The documents that Wang provided to the broker made it appear as though Wang’s brother controlled the account, allowing Jing Wang to hide his control of the account and avoid reporting to U.S. tax authorities.
When Jing Wang became an Executive Vice President of Qualcomm, two things happened — he became privy to all sorts of confidential Qualcomm business information and he became subject to Qualcomm’s insider trading restrictions for officers. Nevertheless, Jing Wang allegedly went on to engage in at least three instances of insider trading from which he illegally gained around $250,000.
The indictment also alleges that Jing Wang, Bing Wang and Yin conspired to conceal the insider trading by conjuring up a false story that would fault Wang’s brother, Bing Wang, for the illegal trades. The broker, Yin, allegedly helped in the cover up by flying to China twice to provide the brother, Bing Wang, with Merrill Lynch documents and help him rehearse the phony cover story.
Whistleblowers Collaborate With SEC to Stop Securities Industry Violations
Employee insiders with information about securities law violations need to understand how the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program works before they notify the SEC. To remain anonymous, tipsters need an attorney to act on their behalf — they cannot contact the government directly. Waters & Kraus is a nationally recognized whistleblower law firm with qui tam lawyers in California, Texas and Maryland. Our SEC fraud lawyers have the knowledge and experience necessary to protect informants’ interests. Contact us by email or phone our whistleblower attorneys at 855.784.0268 to learn how we can work together to do the right thing.
