Trump Media investor convicted of insider trading, helped others make $22M before merger
A financial executive was convicted Thursday of enabling his boss and others to make over $22 million illegally by trading ofāf hiš s tips ahead of the public announcement that an acquisition firm was taking former President Donalš¦d Trumpās media company publšic.
An agitated Bruce Garelick dropped his head and repeatedly š¼wiped his fāace with his hands after a jury convicted him of all charges in Manhattan federal court.
Garelick, who had testified in his defense, was convicted of tipping others in 2021 to news that the special purpose acquisition company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., or DWAC, was merging with Trump Media & Technology Group. Garelick sat on DWACās board.
His co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial, admitting that they made over $22 millionź¦° illegally.
šSešntencing was set for Sept. 12 for Garelick, who remains free on bail.
The indictment against the men did not implicate Trump, who is seeking the presidency again this year as a Rź¦Æepublican; or Trump MšØedia & Technology Group, which owns his platform and began trading on the NASDAQ stock market on March 26.
When the events that led to the charāges took place in 2021, Garelick, of Providence, RI, was chief investment officer of the New York-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital LLC, though he has primarily worked in the Boston area throughout his career.
The firm was owned by Michael Shvartsman of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Shvartsman and his brother, Gerald Shvartsman of Aventura, Florida, pleaded guilty several weeks ago to insider trading charges, admitting that they made over $22 million illegally. They are scheduled to be sentenced in Juš¹ly.
During his testimony earlier this week, Garelick insisted that he did not possess any secrets about the potential merger when he bought securities š¦©in DWAC that eventually enabled him to earn nearly $50,000 in profits. And he said he followed the law by not sharing secrets with othersš„.
On cross-examination, though, a prosecutor confronted him with the fact that he saišd, āWe made $20 million dollarsā after the public announcement of the merger deal.
āI did say those words, yes,ā he admitted.
āYou said: āWe made ą¼$20 million dollars on it,āā the prosecutor said.
āThatās correct,ā he answered.
