East Brunswick Resident Faces Insider Trading Charges

Robert Ramnarine, 45, of East Brunswick, was arrested on insider trading charges related to illegal trades he made based on information concerning three Bristol-Myers Squibb acquistion targets, U.S. Attorney Robert Fishman announced today (Thursday).

The BMS executive is charged in a criminal complaint with three counts of securities fraud. Ramnarine was arrested this morning by agents of the FBI and is scheduled to appear this today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court.

According to the complaint unsealed today and released by the Department of Justice:

Ramnarine was employed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. since 1997, and from March 2008 through the present, held a variety of high-level, executive positions at the company, including director of Pensions and Savings Investments (March 2008-June 2011), executive director of Pensions and Savings Investments (June 2011-July 2012), and assistant treasurer for Capital Markets (since July 2012). As a result of these positions, Ramnarine was involved in evaluating potential BMS acquisition targets, including publicly traded companies, and was privy to inside company information concerning such transactions. At all times, he owed a fiduciary duty of trust and confidence to BMS not to disclose confidential information and material, nonpublic information he learned through his employment with BMS, or to use such information for his personal benefit or the benefit of others.

Between August 2010 and June 2012, however, Ramnarine, traded on material, nonpublic information regarding BMS’s anticipated acquisitions of the following publicly traded companies: ZymoGenentics, Inc., Pharmasset, Inc., and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The material, nonpublic information available to Ramnarine enabled him to reap substantial profits by engaging in lucrative trading in stock options of these companies shortly before they were either acquired by BMS in the case of ZymoGenetics and Amylin, or by another company in the case of Pharmasset. Ramnarine generated approximately $311,361 in illicit profits pursuant to this scheme.

While trading on inside information he obtained through his work at BMS, Ramnarine attempted to conceal his illegal trading activities. In November 2011, Ramnarine learned (1) that Pharmasset was participating in a limited auction process, whereby it would be sold to the highest bidder, and (2) that the auction would close on Nov. 17, 2011. Before trading ahead of the sale of Pharmasset, however, Ramnarine conducted numerous Yahoo! Internet searches from his work computer concerning means to avoid detection for insider trading, including the following terms: “can option be traced to purchaser”; “can stock option be traced to purchase inside trading”; and “insider trading options traceillegal [sic].” Based on these searches, as well as others, between Nov. 2, 2011, and Nov. 3, 2011 Ramnarine visited a number of websites and viewed articles discussing the purpose of insider trading laws, examples of insider trading violations, as well as ways to avoid insider trading violations.

The securities fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $5,000,000.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, in Newark, with the ongoing investigation leading to the criminal Complaint. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Market Abuse Unit and Philadelphia Regional Office, under the direction of Daniel M. Hawke for its assistance, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for its cooperation during the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gurbir S. Grewal and Mala Harker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

The charges and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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