SAN RAMON, Calif. (Diya TV) — Amit Bhardwaj, former Chief Information Security Officer at Lumentum Holdings Inc., has been sentenced to 24 months in prison and a nearly $1 million fine for his involvement in an insider trading scheme, announces the Department of Justice. The sentencing follows Bhardwaj’s misappropriation of confidential information about corporate transactions at Lumentum, leading to illicit stock trading and tipping off associates.
The 49-year-old San Ramon resident violated the trust of his employer by disclosing valuable non-public information regarding Lumentum’s planned acquisitions, according to Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bhardwaj’s actions involved tipping off associates about Lumentum’s potential acquisition of Coherent, Inc. in December 2020, and later, about discussions with Neophotonics Corporation in October 2021.
The co-conspirators, including friends and family members, traded securities based on this insider information. When Coherent’s stock price surged following Lumentum’s acquisition announcement, the group collectively profited nearly $900,000. A similar pattern emerged with Neophotonics, resulting in approximately $4.3 million in realized and unrealized profits after the Lumentum acquisition was made public.
The Department of Justice highlighted Bhardwaj’s attempts to obstruct the federal investigation, driving to co-conspirators’ homes to discourage truthful statements to federal authorities and orchestrating false stories and documents to conceal the insider trading scheme.
In addition to the 24-month prison term, Bhardwaj has been ordered to forfeit $547,286 and pay a fine of $975,000. The sentencing emphasizes the serious consequences faced by corporate executives who engage in illegal profit-seeking activities using confidential information.
