Broker Burned by Burger King Stock Tips

A former stockbroker who was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with misappropriating material nonpublic information from his customer and using it to trade Burger King Holding, Inc.’s securities and to tip others before the company’s September 2, 2010 announcement that it was being acquired by a New York private equity firm has been ordered to pay $5.6 million for insider trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained a final judgment against Waldyr Da Silva Prado Neto, a citizen of Brazil formerly employed by Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC in Miami. According to the government, Prado learned about the impending acquisition from one of his customers who invested in a fund managed by the private equity firm that was used to acquire Burger King. The SEC charged that Prado misused the confidential information to illegally trade in Burger King securities for $175,000 in illicit profits, and that he tipped others living in Brazil and elsewhere.

A final judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on the SEC’s motion for a default judgment permanently enjoined Prado from violating Sections 10(b) and 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3 thereunder. The judgment ordered Prado to disgorge $397,110 in ill-gotten gains from the illegal Burger King trading plus prejudgment interest of $41,622. Prado also was ordered to pay $5,195,500 in penalties.

Contact the author at smeyerow@optonline.net. 

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site.