29 August 2007

is genius a crime?

Advance Copies of BusinessWeek Aided Insider Trading

A former Goldman Sachs analyst pleaded guilty to insider trading charges yesterday. 28-year old Eugene Plotkin, with fellow Harvard graduate Stanislav Shpigelman who worked at Merrill Lynch and fellow Goldman analyst David Pajcin, have all pleaded guilty to an elaborate scheme that netted them almost $7 million.

The trio had been charged back in 2006. Plotkin and Pajcin would get tips from Shpigelman about Merrill's big deals. Pajcin gave tips to his seamstress aunt in Croatia, who made $2 million - a red flag to investigators. The pair also orchestrated a scheme where they recruited Businessweek production plant employees to send them the names of stocks "favourably mentioned" in a column prior to publication - and Plotkin and Pajcin traded those stocks.

Plotkin, a onetime competitive ballroom dancer, said, "Words can't express how sorry I am for the harm I have caused to others, especially my family. I understand what I did was wrong and against the law."

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