Calif. Woman Charged in Trading Probe: Report

A California woman has been charged with providing inside information on public companies, including Nvidia Corp. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd., in connection with an ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, Winifred Jiau allegedly was paid more than $200,000 between 2006 and December 2008 for providing inside information to portfolio managers at hedge funds, including data on financial earnings of public companies, through a California "expert-network" firm. The hedge hunds then traded on the information, prosecutors said.