ID :
165331
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 12:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/165331
The shortlink copeid
Indian sentenced to 3 yrs in prison for stealing trade secrets
Yoshita Singh
Boston, Mar 2 (PTI) A 27-year-old Indian, who worked
as a trader at Societe Generale (SocGen), has been sentenced
to three years in prison for stealing trade secrets at the
French investment bank.
Samarth Agrawal was found guilty on November 19, 2010
by a jury of stealing proprietary computer code used in
SocGen's high-frequency trading business and of transporting
the stolen code.
US District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Agrawal to serve
two years of supervised release following his prison sentence
in New York.
Agrawal may be deported to India after his release
from prison, Rakoff said.
Agrawal worked at SocGen's New York offices during
2007-2009, first as a quantitative analyst and then as a
trader in the bank's High Frequency Trading Group.
In 2009, the bank's surveillance cameras caught
Agrawal printing "hundreds of pages" of a computer code, which
SocGen had developed, and "stashing the printouts in a
backpack".
The bank had spent millions of dollars developing a
computer system and the associated computer code that allowed
SocGen to engage in sophisticated, high-speed trading on
various securities markets.
The code and its associated trading programmes
generated millions of dollars in profits for SocGen.
Agrawal planned to use the information to build a copy
of SocGen's trading programme at a rival company, the FBI said
in a statement.
During a June 2009 meeting with partners of Tower
Capital Research, a proprietary trading group and hedge fund,
Agrawal claimed he had a complete understanding of SocGen's
trading system and that he wanted to build a copy of the same
trading system at Tower.
In July 2009, the Tower partners offered Agrawal a job
which would have paid him a total of USD 575,000 up front,
plus 20 per cent of the profits generated by the copy of
SocGen's trading system that he intended to build at Tower.
He repeatedly disclosed confidential details of
SocGen's trading system to Tower employees.
Agrawal was arrested on April 19, 2010, the day he was
supposed to start work at Tower.
A subsequent search of his apartment revealed the copy
of the stolen code, which was neatly organised in folders on
his desk.
Boston, Mar 2 (PTI) A 27-year-old Indian, who worked
as a trader at Societe Generale (SocGen), has been sentenced
to three years in prison for stealing trade secrets at the
French investment bank.
Samarth Agrawal was found guilty on November 19, 2010
by a jury of stealing proprietary computer code used in
SocGen's high-frequency trading business and of transporting
the stolen code.
US District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Agrawal to serve
two years of supervised release following his prison sentence
in New York.
Agrawal may be deported to India after his release
from prison, Rakoff said.
Agrawal worked at SocGen's New York offices during
2007-2009, first as a quantitative analyst and then as a
trader in the bank's High Frequency Trading Group.
In 2009, the bank's surveillance cameras caught
Agrawal printing "hundreds of pages" of a computer code, which
SocGen had developed, and "stashing the printouts in a
backpack".
The bank had spent millions of dollars developing a
computer system and the associated computer code that allowed
SocGen to engage in sophisticated, high-speed trading on
various securities markets.
The code and its associated trading programmes
generated millions of dollars in profits for SocGen.
Agrawal planned to use the information to build a copy
of SocGen's trading programme at a rival company, the FBI said
in a statement.
During a June 2009 meeting with partners of Tower
Capital Research, a proprietary trading group and hedge fund,
Agrawal claimed he had a complete understanding of SocGen's
trading system and that he wanted to build a copy of the same
trading system at Tower.
In July 2009, the Tower partners offered Agrawal a job
which would have paid him a total of USD 575,000 up front,
plus 20 per cent of the profits generated by the copy of
SocGen's trading system that he intended to build at Tower.
He repeatedly disclosed confidential details of
SocGen's trading system to Tower employees.
Agrawal was arrested on April 19, 2010, the day he was
supposed to start work at Tower.
A subsequent search of his apartment revealed the copy
of the stolen code, which was neatly organised in folders on
his desk.
