Washington DC – Five Indian American doctors agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle charges of insider trading levied against them by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to the US market regulator.
The physicians, Appa Rao Mukkamala, Suresh Anne, Jitenda Prasad Katneni, Mallikarjuna Rao Anne and Rao A. K. Yalamanchili, named as defendants in the court documents, agreed to pay more than USD 1.9 million to settle the charges without denying or admitting guilt.
Mukkamala, one of the five doctors, in his capacity as chairman of the board of directors of American Physicians Capital, Inc (ACAP), learned about the anticipated sale of ACAP to another insurance company and “made these illegal disclosures to some of his family and friends,” charged the SEC in its complaint.
“The five physicians each purchased ACAP stock based on confidential information about the impending sale in the months leading up to a public announcement. Collectively, they made more than $623,000 in illegal profits on their ACAP stock following the announcement,” the SEC said.
The profits resulted after the public announcement of the acquisition of ACAP by insurer firm The Doctors Company caused shares to jump nearly 28 percent that day.
Individually, the physicians have agreed to pay the following amounts: Mukkamala, $631,000; Mallikarjuna Rao, $253,000; Suresh, $697,000; Katneni, $22,000; and Yalamanchili, $298,000. In the agreement, Mukkamala also had to agree to decline any future positions as an officer or director of a public company. (IATNS)