Last week, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities & Exchange Commission(“SEC”) announced charges connected to a large-scale, international conspiracy to hack into the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system and profit by trading on stolen material, non-public information. The conduct underlying these cases was one of the principal reasons that the SEC created its Division of Enforcement “Cyber Unit” to target cyber-related securities fraud violations.

In a 16-count indictment unsealed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, two Ukrainian citizens, Artem Radchenko and Oleksander Ieremenko, were charged with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and computer fraud. The SEC’s complaint charged nine defendants – Ieremenko, six traders in California, Ukraine, and Russian, and two entities – with antifraud violations of the federal securities laws.

Read SECurities and Law Perspectives blog post, “DOJ and SEC Announce Charges Connected to Hack of SEC’s EDGAR System.”