Reported by Chris Dolmetsch

A former Nuveen LLC trader admitted to tipping off an Oregon retiree about the asset management firm’s plans as part of an insider-trading scheme that netted them more than $47 million in illegal profits.

Billimek, of Hailey, Idaho, admitted tipping off Alan Williams about upcoming Nuveen trades in companies including Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Ulta Beauty Inc., using prepaid burner phones. Williams, who pleaded guilty in September, would acquire shares ahead of Nuveen, then sell after the firm’s large purchases drove prices up. He sent Billimek at least $10 million of the profits via checks and wire transfers.

The case stands out for the amount Billimek, 52, and Williams, 78, made and the scale of their activity. Many recent high-profile insider trading cases, including that of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Brijesh Goel, have revolved around six-figure profits made trading ahead of a handful of transactions. Prosecutors said Billimek and Williams made more than 1,000 illegal trades between 2016 and 2022.

Both men were also sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has said the case made use of the Consolidated Audit Trail, a new database designed to track billions of daily equities and options trades to help identify the causes of market turmoil and catch manipulators. The regulator said staff used CAT to analyze Williams’s trades and how he profited by front-running those by Nuveen.

Read full report: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ex-nuveen-trader-pleads-guilty-202905037.html