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Puneet Dikshit, Insider Trading, New York 2021
A high-stakes case of insider trading has unfolded in New York, with Puneet Dikshit, a former partner in a global management consulting firm, pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud. Dikshit’s scheme involved using material, nonpublic information to trade in GreenSky call options, netting him nearly half a million dollars in tainted profits.
According to the allegations, GreenSky was a publicly traded financial technology company that provided technology to banks and merchants to make loans to consumers for home improvement, solar, healthcare, and other purposes. The company’s common stock traded under the symbol ‘GSKY’ on the NASDAQ.
The Investment Bank engaged the consulting firm to provide various consulting services related to its consideration of an acquisition of GreenSky and the post-acquisition integration of GreenSky. Dikshit had access to material nonpublic information, which he misappropriated and used to trade GreenSky call options.
Dikshit engaged in this trading between July 26, 2021, and September 15, 2021, at the same time he was leading the consulting firm team that was advising the Investment Bank about its potential acquisition of GreenSky. He purchased and sold relatively small numbers of GreenSky call options, which had expiration dates weeks or months from the time of purchase. However, in the two days before the September 15, 2021, public announcement that the Investment Bank would be acquiring GreenSky, Dikshit sold all of these longer-dated GreenSky call options and purchased approximately 2,500 out-of-the-money GreenSky call options that were due to expire just a few days later, on September 17, 2021.
After the deal to purchase GreenSky was announced, Dikshit sold these options and realized profits of approximately $450,000. Dikshit, 40, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Colleen McMahon on March 30, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance and cooperation in this investigation. The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua A. Naftalis and Matthew Podolsky are in charge of the prosecution.
Puneet Dikshit, the defendant, will face sentencing for his admitted crime, which is a serious blow to the financial world.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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