The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an accountant and three others with trading on confidential market-moving news about Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company where Evan R. Kita, a CPA, formerly worked. The SEC alleges that Kita tipped two of his friends with confidential information about clinical trial results for Celator’s cancer drug and its acquisition by Dublin-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc almost three months later. Jazz Pharmaceuticals offered to pay a hefty premium in May 2016 to acquire Celator when its stock rose more than 400% in March 2016 after it announced positive results for its drug to treat leukemia. Daniel Perez and Richard Yu allegedly purchased Celator stock based on Kita’s tips before the two announcements and agreed to share their trading profits with him, according to the SEC. Yu passed Kita’s tips to his father, Chiang Yu, who also traded in advance of both announcements, the SEC says. The SEC’s investigation is continuing. The Department of Justice also filed criminal charges on Wednesday against the four men.
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