A Brookline man will spend 20 months in prison for giving friends illegal insider trading tips that netted them $1 million in illegal profits, federal prosecutors said.
Amit Kanodia, 49, of Brookline, was also given two years supervised release, 100 hours of community service, a fine of $200,000 and forfeiture of $242,500, which represented his share of the illegal trading profits.
In October 2016, Kanodia was convicted of one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of securities fraud.
“In the spring of 2013, Kanodia tipped off his two friends, Iftikar Ahmed and Steven Watson, about the contemplated acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company,” prosecutors said. “On the day of the announcement, Cooper Tire’s share price increased 41 percent, and Ahmed and Watson began selling their interests in the company for a combined profit of more than $1 million.”
Ahmed and Watson paid Kanodia a portion of their illegal profits, prosecutors said. In November 2016, Watson was sentenced to two years probation, fined $25,000, and ordered to forfeit almost $170,000 in illegal trading profits. Ahmed is a fugitive, prosecutors said.
