Dublin Man Charged With Securities Fraud Over Alleged Ross Stores Insider Trading
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A Dublin financial analyst was arrested and brought to federal court in Oakland on Wednesday on charges of an insider trading securities fraud that allegedly generated $8.2 million in illegal profits.
Saleem Mohammad Khan, 53, was charged in a May 25 grand jury indictment with one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud and seven counts of engaging in securities fraud by trading in Ross Stores Inc. stock on the basis of inside information between 2009 and 2012.
The inside information was allegedly provided by a colleague who was a manager in the discount store chain's finance department and had advance knowledge of sales figures before they were released publicly.
Khan had an initial appearance in Oakland on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Kandis Westmore, who released him on $300,000 bond. His next appearance is an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Donna Ryu on June 7.
The indictment was issued under seal and was unsealed after Khan's court appearance Wednesday.
If convicted at a future trial, Khan could face up to 25 years to life in prison on each count.
At the time of the alleged fraud, Khan was working as a financial manager at a non-profit health care company, according a separate civil lawsuit filed against him in federal court in San Francisco in 2014 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Khan had previously worked as a securities broker, a financial analyst and financial manager for various companies and worked for four months as a contractor in the finance department at Ross Stores Inc. in 2007-2008.
The inside tipster in the Ross finance department was not named in the criminal indictment, but was identified in the SEC lawsuit as Roshanlal Chaganlal.
Last September, the SEC announced a settlement of the civil fraud lawsuit. Under the settlement, Khan was ordered to pay $7.5 million in illegal profits, another $7.5 million in penalties and $847,000 in interest.
Chaganlal was ordered to forfeit $130,000 -- the amount Khan allegedly paid him for the inside information—and pay another $130,000 in penalties and $15,000 in interest.
While agreeing to the settlement, the two men did not admit to any wrongdoing.