Prosecutors Allege Insider Trading Involving Former Bank of America IT Worker

Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against several people in an insider-trading scheme in which a former Bank of America employee is alleged to have tipped several friends about pending corporate mergers.

Daniel Rivas, a former information technology worker in Bank of America's investment banking group, passed confidential information about potential deals to friends including his girlfriend's father, who was an executive at a global interdealer brokerage firm, according to an indictment made public Wednesday. The group of individuals who traded on the information earned over $5 million by trading in more than two dozen stocks, according to the indictment.

As an information-technology worker at the bank, Mr. Rivas had access to a database of potential deals that contained nonpublic information, the indictment said. A spokesman for Bank of America said Mr. Rivas was fired in April. The bank cooperated fully with the government's investigation, the spokesman said.

An attorney for Mr. Rivas didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Write to Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 16, 2017 16:53 ET (20:53 GMT)