BleepingComputer reports that UK national Robert Westbrook has been indicted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for engaging in an insider trading scheme involving the hacking of five public firms across the U.S. from January 2019 to August 2020.
Confidential trading data exfiltrated from the U.S. companies' systems had been leveraged by Westbrook to amass $3.75 million in illicit profits from trades before over a dozen earnings announcements, according to the SEC.
"Even though Westbrook took multiple steps to conceal his identity – including using anonymous email accounts, VPN services, and utilizing bitcoin – the Commission's advanced data analytics, crypto asset tracing, and technology can uncover fraud even in cases involving sophisticated international hacking," said the SEC. Westbrook could not only be subjected to a prolonged prison sentence as a result of the charges but also be ordered to pay fines likely exceeding the $3.75 million he earned from the scheme.
