Former Qualcomm exec sentenced for insider trading
A onetime high-ranking executive at computer-chip maker Qualcomm (QCOM) was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in prison and fined $500,000 for his part in an insider trading scheme, federal officials announced.
Jing Wang, 52, former executive vice president and president of global business operations for Qualcomm pleaded guilty in July 2014 to insider trading, money laundering and obstruction of justice for the three-year scheme, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Wang admitted netting $240,000 from trading stock in Atheros Communications, which Qualcomm purchased for $3.1 billion in 2011.
His stockbroker, Gary Yin, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice and launder money and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17. Wang's brother, Bing Wang, is also charged in connection with the scheme, with an international warrant out for his arrest. Bing Wang lives in rural China, according to the statement.
"Jing Wang was a powerful insider at one of the world's top corporations -- but he threw it all away to make a few hundred thousand dollars," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in the statement.
Three other former employees that worked in Qualcomm's sales department have also been charged in the case.