Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading.

A former Morgan Stanley broker pleaded guilty to trading on insider corporate tips he got from a middleman who showed him secret notes before chewing and swallowing them at New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

Vladimir Eydelman, 43, admitted Wednesday in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, that he traded on information stolen from computers at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a New York law firm. The five-year scheme made $5.6 million in profit, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. Eydelman was charged in March 2014 and fired by his firm.

Frank Tamayo, 42, pleaded guilty in September 2014 to his role as the middleman. Eydelman admitted he would meet Tamayo at Grand Central station to receive the stolen data. He said Tamayo wrote the relevant ticker symbols on pieces of paper or napkins and showed them to Eydelman before eating them. Eydelman admitted he used the tips to buy securities on behalf of himself, family members, friends, Tamayo and brokerage clients.

The scheme lasted from 2009 to 2013, Eydelman said. He worked at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. from March 2001 to September 2012, when he joined Morgan Stanley and continued the trades.

Nasdaq Stock Market and New York Stock Exchange trades were executed through computer servers in New Jersey. Eydelman also did some trades from home when he lived in Colt’s Neck, New Jersey, prosecutors said.

The case is U.S. v. Eydelman, 14-mj-8079, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton).

Jr.Trader G.Hristov

(Source: Bloomberg)