iPad leaker arrested
Truly, the wheels of justice turn slowly, but an employee of Flextronics, an international contract manufacturing and services company, was caught on tape dishing Apple’s secrets to an investment firm. In an ironic twist, his contact got him saying “[It] would really suck if you recorded all the calls.”
San Jose Biz Journal reports that federal agents have arrested Walter Shimoon, a senior business directer at Flextronics, accusing him of providing insider information prior to the iPad’s release.
“It’s a new category altogether. I believe it’s called K48 … At Apple, you can get fired for saying K48 … outside of a meeting that doesn’t have K48 people in it,” Shimoon is quoted as saying in a transcript of call recorded by his contact at Primary Global, an investment firm that used the information. “That’s how crazy they are about it.”
Shimoon has been charged with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Four others have been named as part of the investigation
Flextronics said indirectly via a statement that Shimoon had been terminated.
I wonder if this prosecution will have the intended chilling effect on leakers?
December 20th, 2010
[...] arrest and one presumes prosecution of Walter Shimoon, a Flextronics employee who “moonlighted” as a “consultant” for Primary Global, for insider trading [...]