Amazon Manager, Family Charged With Insider Trading Worth Over $1.4M By SEC

An Amazon.com, Inc AMZN senior manager and her two family members were charged with insider trading by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

What Happened: Laksha Bohra is alleged to have tipped her husband Viky Bohra about highly confidential information about the e-commerce giant's financial performance between January 2016 and July 2018, the SEC said in a statement.

According to SEC, the Amazon manager came into possession of the information as she prepared and reviewed earnings calculations used to finalize numbers for the retailer’s quarterly and annual earnings filed with the regulator.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in a federal court in Seattle, states that Viky Bohra and his father Gotham Bohra used the information to trade using 11 separate accounts maintained by different members of the family.

The family allegedly reaped benefits to the tune of $1.4 million from the unlawful trading.

The Bohras have agreed to return nearly $1.5 million they gained in illegal profit and pay an additional penalty of $1,106,399, as per the SEC.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington filed criminal charges against Viky Bohra on Monday.

Why It Matters: The Jeff Bezos-led company reportedly terminated Bohra in 2018 for reasons not mentioned in the complaint, Fortune reported. 

In 2017, the SEC had charged another employee of the e-commerce giant for leaking sensitive information to a college friend for financial gain.

Price Action: Amazon shares closed 2.55% higher at $3,174.05 on Monday and gained almost 0.5% in the after-hours session.