Goldman Sachs VP charged with securities fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday charged a Goldman Sachs vice president with insider trading.

The SEC alleges that from 2015 to 2017, Woojae “Steve” Jung, a vice president of investment banking who worked in Goldman’s San Francisco and New York offices, used inside information to trade the securities of 12 companies that were being advised by Goldman Sachs. These trades resulted in an illegal profit of more than $140,000.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GS	THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC.	601.71	-3.86	-0.64%

Jung tried to skirt tracking by using an account held in the name of a friend living in South Korea to place illegal trades. By using a friend’s brokerage account, Jung attempted to avoid his employer’s requirements that he pre-clear his trades and that he use an approved brokerage firm that would have reported the trading to his employer.

“Jung tried to insulate himself by allegedly placing trades in the brokerage account of a friend who lived overseas,” said Joseph G. Sansone, chief of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed criminal charges against Jung. Jung has been charged with six counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

A Goldman Sachs spokesperson told FOX Business that, “We are aware of the situation regarding Mr. Jung and are cooperating with legal authorities on the matter.”