The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut entered a judgment against the former CEO of a payment systems company for insider trading.
According to the Complaint (see previous coverage), the SEC alleged that Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. ("Heartland") CEO Robert Carr gave confidential information to his girlfriend regarding Heartland's impending merger with a larger Georgia-based company. According to the Complaint, Mr. Carr also provided his girlfriend with $1 million to open a brokerage account, which she then used to purchase $900,000 in Heartland stock. Following the announcement of the merger, she sold her shares for a profit of over $250,000.
The Court previously entered a preliminary consent judgment that permanently enjoined Mr. Carr from violating the antifraud provisions of SEA Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 and imposed a civil penalty of $250,628. The Court also previously entered a consent judgment against Katherine Hanratty, Mr. Carr's girlfriend, that (i) permanently enjoined her from violating the antifraud provisions of the Exchange Act and (ii) ordered her to pay more than $500,000 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties.
Following these consent judgments, the SEC requests that the Court permanently bar Carr from serving as an officer and director of a public company. The Court ruled that given his "age and the fact that he is not currently working at a public company, a temporary bar is an appropriate penalty to deter Carr from engaging in any future misconduct."
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