Denise Grevas, Insider Trading, Illinois 2023

A federal judge today sentenced Denise Grevas to a year in prison for using insider information obtained from her husband to purchase shares of a company ahead of its acquisition by the husband’s employer.

Grevas, 60, of Evanston, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a securities fraud charge.

In addition to the year-and-a-day prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber fined Grevas $100,000.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a civil enforcement action against Grevas, provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hasten and Jason Yonan represented the government in the criminal case.

Grevas admitted in a plea agreement that she made $286,960 in illegal profits from the purchase and sale of securities in a Washington state-based pharmaceutical company, which was a target for acquisition and later acquired by a foreign pharmaceutical company that employed Grevas’s husband.

Grevas used material, non-public information about the expected acquisition to purchase shares in the Washington company ahead of a public announcement of the acquisition on Sept. 16, 2019. After the announcement, the Washington company’s stock price increased and Grevas sold the shares for the profit.

Mandatory Facts:

Defendant/Respondent Name: Denise Grevas

Criminal Charges: Securities Fraud

City and State: Evanston, Illinois

Exact Date: [Not specified in source]

Sentence or Outcome: Year in prison, $100,000 fine

Dollar Amounts: $286,960 in illegal profits, $100,000 fine

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