Two Indiana men pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges today, in relation to a 2014 scheme to trade in options ahead of SAP SE’s acquisition of Concur Technologies, which netted them hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Criminal Investigations Group Inspector in Charge Daniel Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey S. Sallett of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office made the announcement.
Douglas M. Miller, 42, of Dyer, Indiana, and Edward M. Miller, 45, of Munster, Indiana, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Philip P. Simon of the Northern District of Indiana. Douglas Miller also pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement. Edward Miller pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice.
According to admissions made in connection with their guilty pleas, Douglas and Edward Miller obtained material, non-public information about SAP’s September 2014 acquisition of Concur from Christopher Salis, a global vice president at SAP. Douglas and Edward Miller and others then purchased securities in Concur based on this information for the purposes of profiting from these transactions and returning a portion of the profits to Salis. Following the acquisition, the Millers and their co-conspirators sold the securities and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.
The Millers also admitted to taking further steps to conceal their scheme by structuring financial transactions and using “burner” phones to communicate with their co-conspirators. Upon learning of federal investigations into the insider trading scheme, Edward Miller took steps to hinder and impede the investigation, including by destroying electronic data found on the “burner” phones. Doug Miller also admitted to lying to federal investigators.
The Millers are the second and third individuals to plead guilty as a result of the investigation into insider trading ahead of SAP’s acquisition of Concur. In February 2017, Salis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in connection to the scheme. Sentencing for the Millers is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2019. Salis is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25, 2019.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Mail Fraud Team and the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Justin D. Weitz and Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Farer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Trial Attorneys Gary Winters, Jennifer Ballantyne of the Fraud Section and former Fraud Section Trial Attorney L. Rush Atkinson previously worked on this matter. The Department appreciates the substantial assistance of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Potential victims of the scheme can find information about their rights under relevant law at the following website: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/salis-miller-concurtrading
Source: Department of Justice. This site is made available by CHINA NEWS – Professional Chinese Press Release Distribution service, Great China and Asia PR service provider. 【专业中文新闻稿发布，大中华地区及亚洲网络公关服务商】。