Ex-Bakkt CEO Accused of Insider Trading

by Arnab Shome
  • Senator Kelly Loeffler and her husband dumped millions in stocks before the market tanked.
Ex-Bakkt CEO Accused of Insider Trading
FM
Join our Crypto Telegram channel

Two United States senators - Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina - have been accused of dumping millions in stocks having insider information ahead of the COVID-19 impact on the market.

Reported by The Daily Beast on Thursday, Loeffler took the step after attending a senators-only meeting called by the Senate Health Committee on the Coronavirus outbreak.

Although the exact number of stocks sold by the senator is unknown, it is estimated that the value of the stocks was between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000.

Before starting her career as a congresswoman, Loeffler was the chief executive of Bakkt, a crypto company offering derivatives. She is married to Jeff Sprecher, the founder and chairman of Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange , and also Bakkt.

The first transaction of stocks, jointly owned by Loeffler and her husband, was made on January 24, the same day the meeting was held.

The report outlined that the husband and wife duo made a total of 29 stock transactions through mid-February. The first company stock sold by them was of Resideo Technologies worth between $50,001 and $100,000. The company's price of the company's stocks has halved since the beginning of the chaos in the market.

Loeffler and her husband also added two stocks to their portfolio in the bearish market - Citrix and Oracle, two companies in the technology domain. Since their purchase of Citrix stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000, its value bumped a little even in the recent volatility, while Oracle's stock shed its value.

Taking advantages of insider information is not legal

Notably, it is illegal for any member of Congress to sell their stock holdings by gaining non-public information through their official positions.

Burr's activities on the stock market were revealed a day before as he off-loaded stocks worth between $500,000 and $1.5 million in February.

Two United States senators - Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina - have been accused of dumping millions in stocks having insider information ahead of the COVID-19 impact on the market.

Reported by The Daily Beast on Thursday, Loeffler took the step after attending a senators-only meeting called by the Senate Health Committee on the Coronavirus outbreak.

Although the exact number of stocks sold by the senator is unknown, it is estimated that the value of the stocks was between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000.

Before starting her career as a congresswoman, Loeffler was the chief executive of Bakkt, a crypto company offering derivatives. She is married to Jeff Sprecher, the founder and chairman of Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange , and also Bakkt.

The first transaction of stocks, jointly owned by Loeffler and her husband, was made on January 24, the same day the meeting was held.

The report outlined that the husband and wife duo made a total of 29 stock transactions through mid-February. The first company stock sold by them was of Resideo Technologies worth between $50,001 and $100,000. The company's price of the company's stocks has halved since the beginning of the chaos in the market.

Loeffler and her husband also added two stocks to their portfolio in the bearish market - Citrix and Oracle, two companies in the technology domain. Since their purchase of Citrix stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000, its value bumped a little even in the recent volatility, while Oracle's stock shed its value.

Taking advantages of insider information is not legal

Notably, it is illegal for any member of Congress to sell their stock holdings by gaining non-public information through their official positions.

Burr's activities on the stock market were revealed a day before as he off-loaded stocks worth between $500,000 and $1.5 million in February.

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|} !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}