(Adds details about Michael Maciocio's plea agreement)
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - A former Oppenheimer & Co Inc
investment adviser was arrested on Friday on charges he traded
on inside information supplied by a childhood friend working at
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N about deals that drugmaker was considering.
David Hobson, who during the alleged scheme also worked for
RBC Capital Markets, was charged in an indictment filed in
Manhattan federal court for making illegal trades that earned
him over $187,000 and about $145,000 for his customers.
His friend, Michael Maciocio, secretly pleaded guilty on May
20 to charges related to the scheme, which ran from 2008 to 2014
and which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a
lawsuit said earned him $116,000 from his own insider trading.
Hobson, 47, was arrested at his home in Providence, Rhode
Island on charges of conspiracy and securities fraud. He was
released later in the day following a court hearing. His lawyer
declined comment.
Maciocio, 46, has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors
pursuing the case, according to his plea agreement. His lawyer
did not respond to requests for comment.
The charges were brought by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara, who since 2009 has overseen an insider trading
crackdown that has resulted in charges against 104 and the
conviction of 79.
According to authorities, Maciocio in his role at Pfizer as
director of chemical research and development, received
information about potential deals relevant to his tasks
evaluating manufacturing demands and capacity.
While Maciocio was not typically given the identity of the
company in a potential deal, he used the information to perform
research to discern its identity, sometimes with Hobson's help,
authorities said.
After identifying the company, Maciocio then passed the
information to Hobson, who executed trades in accounts belonging
to himself, Maciocio, and clients of Oppenheimer and RBC,
charging documents said.
The tips enabled Hobson to illegally trade in the stocks of
Medivation Inc MDVN.O , Ardea Biosciences Inc and Furiex
Pharmaceuticals Inc, the indictment said.
The former employers of Hobson and Maciocio were not named
in the court papers, but Pfizer, Oppenheimer, a unit of
Oppenheimer Holdings Inc OPY.N , and RBC, a unit of Royal Bank
of Canada RY.TO , confirmed their employment.
Oppenheimer said it has "cooperated extensively" with
authorities. Pfizer said it "takes these allegations seriously
and is cooperating fully with the authorities."
The cases in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of
New York, are U.S. v. Hobson, No. 16-cr-351, and Securities and
Exchange Commission v. Maciocio, No. 16-cv-4139.
(Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Alistair Bell)