NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - A former trader was sentenced to 26 months in prison on Tuesday and will be deported to his native Siberia, after conspiring with a former UBS AG investment manager in insider trading.
The former trader, Alexei Koval, 37, pled guilty in January before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in New York to charges that he and his friend Igor Poteroba committed securities fraud in six UBS healthcare client deals between 2005 and February 2009.
Poteroba pleaded guilty to the same charges in the same court last December. Poteroba was sentenced in March to 22 months in prison.
Poteroba and Koval used coded email messages referring to securities and money as 'frequent flyer miles' and 'potatoes' in their conspiracy, prosecutors said. Koval also admitted to paying money for the confidential information he used to make trades.
Crotty imposed the sentence of two years and two months on Koval, a citizen of Russia. He will be deported to Siberia when he has completed his sentence, the court heard.
Prosecutors said Koval made an illicit $1.4 million.
The case is one of several prosecutions in Manhattan in the last two years over allegations of insider trading, but it is unrelated to a broad high-profile probe of hedge funds.
The case is USA v. Alexei Koval, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-443.
(Reporting by Grant McCool; editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: INSIDERTRADING UBS/KOVAL (grant.mccool@thomsonreuters.com; +1-212-393-9461; Reuters Messaging: grant.mccool.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The former trader, Alexei Koval, 37, pled guilty in January before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in New York to charges that he and his friend Igor Poteroba committed securities fraud in six UBS healthcare client deals between 2005 and February 2009.
Poteroba pleaded guilty to the same charges in the same court last December. Poteroba was sentenced in March to 22 months in prison.
Poteroba and Koval used coded email messages referring to securities and money as 'frequent flyer miles' and 'potatoes' in their conspiracy, prosecutors said. Koval also admitted to paying money for the confidential information he used to make trades.
Crotty imposed the sentence of two years and two months on Koval, a citizen of Russia. He will be deported to Siberia when he has completed his sentence, the court heard.
Prosecutors said Koval made an illicit $1.4 million.
The case is one of several prosecutions in Manhattan in the last two years over allegations of insider trading, but it is unrelated to a broad high-profile probe of hedge funds.
The case is USA v. Alexei Koval, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-443.
(Reporting by Grant McCool; editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: INSIDERTRADING UBS/KOVAL (grant.mccool@thomsonreuters.com; +1-212-393-9461; Reuters Messaging: grant.mccool.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.