SEC charges former Indiana Rep. Stephen Buyer with insider trading

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday former Rep. Stephen Buyer has been charged with insider trading.

Buyer served as Indiana's 4th congressional district representative, which included both Lafayette and West Lafayette from 1993 until 2011.

After leaving office in 2011, Buyer formed a consulting firm, the Steve Buyer Group. While working as a consultant, he is accused of obtaining insider information to purchase around $1.5 million in stock before major deals were known to the public.

“In March 2018, Buyer attended a golf outing with a T-Mobile executive, from whom he learned about the company’s then nonpublic plan to acquire Sprint. Buyer began purchasing Sprint securities the next day, and, ahead of the merger announcement, he acquired a total of $568,000 of Sprint common stock in his own personal accounts, a joint account with his cousin, and an acquaintance’s account. After news of the merger leaked in April 2018, Buyer saw an immediate profit of more than $107,000,” stated the release.

In 2019, Buyer was accused of purchasing more than $1 million of Navigant Consulting, Inc. securities ahead of the public announcement that it would be acquired by another of Buyer’s consulting clients, Guidehouse LLP.

Buyer spread the purchases of these shares across several accounts, including his own, a joint account that he shared with his wife and son, his wife’s personal account, and the joint account with his cousin, according to the SEC release.

The release goes on to say that when the Navigant acquisition was finally publicly announced, Buyer immediately sold nearly all of the shares that he had acquired of the company. Buyer profited more than $227,000 across the various accounts, according to the SEC.

"When insiders like Buyer – an attorney, a former prosecutor, and a retired Congressman – monetize their access to material, nonpublic information, as alleged in this case, they not only violate the federal securities laws, but also undermine public trust and confidence in the fairness of our markets," said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division in the press release.

"We are committed to doing all we can to maintain and enhance public trust by leveling the playing field and holding Buyer accountable for illegally profiting from his access."

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: SEC charges former Indiana Rep. Stephen Buyer with insider trading