?Crime doesn?t pay.? Remember when people believed that old adage? More and more, we are seeing evidence that Wall Street criminals can expect handsome rewards.
Consider the case of Oleksandr Dorozhko, a Ukrainian who used insider information he pilfered from IMS Health by hacking into their computer system. He managed to steal a financial report that was to be released. He used the knowledge from the report to surmise the stock would plunge upon its release and purchased $41,671 in ?put? options. He made $296,456 in a single day when the stock did as expected and dropped.
The SEC froze payment and sought relief in an emergency hearing in federal court. But the court ruled that the law did not apply to information gotten by illegally hacking into a computer system and ordered the SEC to give the sorry thief his money. You can read the full story in the New York Times.
What is this but one more sign that on Wall Street the inmates are running the asylum? Fuzzy laws, legal loopholes, escape clauses, and end runs continue to rule the day. The result is Robin Hood reversed: robbing from the poor working man to feed the rich man?s insatiable greed.
It?s enough to make you say dirty words, dammit.
That?s the Word on the Street.
Veracity Jones,