A former Barclays Plc trader said he got an insider tip from an ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice-president at a squash court after having too many drinks.
That trade netted a $2,000 profit, just a fraction of the $280,000 the two men made in illicit profits from insider trades in 2017, according to Akshay Niranjan. The former trader testified against his friend at an insider-trading trial in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Niranjan is the star witness in the government’s case against Brijesh Goel, the former Goldman Sachs executive who is charged with insider trading. The case between the two men has showcased how even the closest ties on Wall Street can rip under FBI scrutiny.
Under questioning from prosecutor Sam Rothschild, Niranjan told the jury that he suspected Goel’s stock recommendations must have come from confidential information he received at Goldman. His concern grew when Goel texted him in coded messages, and insisted on discussing trades only in person.
“It was great to make money,” Niranjan said. “At the same time, I was concerned. I told him I hope he’s not breaking the law. He said, don’t worry, he knows the rules. He would not do something as stupid as that.”
Niranjan said one day he got a text from Goel to play squash after work and despite first going out for some drinks he showed up. It was there that Goel recommended buying options in Lumos Pharma Inc, a company Niranjan said he never heard of.
The next day Goel texted him, “Did you book the court?” Niranjan said he was confused, because there had been no plan to play squash. After it became clear to him that Goel wanted him to buy the options in Lumos, he bought $2,000 worth of call options. A few days later, the company announced it was being acquired, the stock price went up, and the trade generated $2,000 in profit.
That was one of eight companies Goel gave him tips on, which were subject to potential acquisition based on inside information he picked up from his work at Goldman Sachs, Niranjan testified.
Goel claims he was framed by his friend, who was himself guilty of insider trading and implicated him to avoid punishment.
“That is the ultimate betrayal,” Goel’s lawyer, Adam Ford, told the jury in his opening statement.
Niranjan told the jury he looked up to Goel “as a mentor and an older brother.”
They met in March 2012 while both were studying for a master’s degree at the University of California in Berkeley, Niranjan said. Later they became “very close friends” after moving to New York. They often played squash together, went swimming and hung out “nearly every other weekend.”
They also went on trips together, attended music festivals and smoked marijuana almost every time they hung out on the weekends. Occasionally they took MDMA and mushrooms. Niranjan said Goel was one of his groomsmen at his 2018 wedding.
Niranjan’s testimony continues on Thursday.
