Ex-Harman International executive gets prison for insider trading
Sept 1 (Reuters) - A former Harman International Industries Inc executive was sentenced to eight months in prison on Thursday after he admitted to trading on inside information before the company released a stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings report.
Dennis Hamilton, a former vice president of tax at the maker of car audio systems, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson in New Haven, Connecticut, after pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud in March, prosecutors said.
Thompson also ordered Hamilton, 46, of Norwalk, to spend four months in home confinement during a year of supervised release that will follow his prison term and to pay a $131,958 fine, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said.
A lawyer for Thompson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors said on Oct. 30, 2013, a day before Harman released quarterly results, Hamilton illegally bought 17,000 shares of the company through a Charles Schwab account belonging to him and his wife.
Hamilton bought the stock after reviewing drafts of Harman's quarterly report and news release announcing the results, and listening to a conference call with Harman's audit committee during which the results were discussed, prosecutors said.
After the Stamford, Connecticut-based company made its results public, Harman shares rose 12.5 percent on Oct. 31, 2013, enabling Hamilton to make about $131,000 in profits, prosecutors said.
He was arrested on Feb. 5. According to prosecutors, when Federal Bureau of Investigation agents showed Hamilton the trades at issue in the case and the timeline of events surrounding them, Hamilton said: "Looks like I did something stupid."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has also sued Hamilton, and on Tuesday filed an amended civil lawsuit saying he conducted insider trading on four other occasions, resulting in more than $977,000 of additional illegal profits.
The case is U.S. v. Hamilton, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, No. 16-cr-00058. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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