Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger

[Synthaholic]

Where there's Trump, there are crimes being committed. Where there's Trump, there is corruption. Where there's Trump, there is a Russia connection.​

​

​

Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger​

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Two men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to insider trading in securities in the company that ultimately took former U.S. President Donald Trump's media business public.

Michael Shvartsman, 53, head of Miami-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital, and his brother Gerald Shvartsman, 46, each pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan.

Rocket One's chief investment officer, Bruce Garelick, is scheduled to face trial on related charges on April 29.

Prosecutors charged the trio last year with illegally trading on inside information about Trump Media & Technology Group's (TMTG) (DJT.O), opens new tab plan to go public through a merger with a blank-check company. TMTG operates Truth Social, Trump's main social media platform.

Prosecutors said the trio signed confidentiality agreements in June 2021 when they were approached to become early investors in Digital World Acquisition, the blank-check company. The agreements required them to keep information they learned confidential and not trade the company's securities in the open market, prosecutors said.

After hearing the company was in merger talks with TMTG, prosecutors said the trio tipped others and bought Digital World securities, selling them after the deal was announced on Oct. 20, 2021, to make a total of $22 million in illegal profit.

Michael and Gerald Shvartsman said in court that they knew what they were doing was wrong when they traded on nonpublic information.

"I've made a terrible mistake," Gerald Shvartsman said at the hearing.

 

[The Duke]

Where there's Trump, there are crimes being committed. Where there's Trump, there is corruption. Where there's Trump, there is a Russia connection.​

​

​

Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger​

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Two men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to insider trading in securities in the company that ultimately took former U.S. President Donald Trump's media business public.

Michael Shvartsman, 53, head of Miami-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital, and his brother Gerald Shvartsman, 46, each pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan.

Rocket One's chief investment officer, Bruce Garelick, is scheduled to face trial on related charges on April 29.

Prosecutors charged the trio last year with illegally trading on inside information about Trump Media & Technology Group's (TMTG) (DJT.O), opens new tab plan to go public through a merger with a blank-check company. TMTG operates Truth Social, Trump's main social media platform.

Prosecutors said the trio signed confidentiality agreements in June 2021 when they were approached to become early investors in Digital World Acquisition, the blank-check company. The agreements required them to keep information they learned confidential and not trade the company's securities in the open market, prosecutors said.

After hearing the company was in merger talks with TMTG, prosecutors said the trio tipped others and bought Digital World securities, selling them after the deal was announced on Oct. 20, 2021, to make a total of $22 million in illegal profit.

Michael and Gerald Shvartsman said in court that they knew what they were doing was wrong when they traded on nonpublic information.

"I've made a terrible mistake," Gerald Shvartsman said at the hearing.

Such misleading bullshit.

They got caught doing this last year. Has nothing to do with Trump merger.

 

[MisterBeale]

Where there's Trump, there are crimes being committed. Where there's Trump, there is corruption. Where there's Trump, there is a Russia connection.

This has nothing to do with the man, Donald Trump, nor Russians.

It does, however, have to do with a frenzy on the market, and corrupt people trying to make a fast buck.

As always, you are disingenuously trying to spin a story. Only the dumb will bleev a thing you write.

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble​

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

web.archive.org

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

www.nytimes.com

". . . Last month, traders lost $126 million betting against Trump Media, according to S3.

On Monday, Trump Media published updated financial information, revealing little revenue, large losses and a statement from the company’s independent auditor expressing “substantial doubt” about its financial viability. This appeared to galvanize investors betting against the company, as the stock slipped from its highs.

But short-sellers are finding it difficult and costly to trade in Trump Media. There are roughly 137 million shares in the company, and only around five million of those are available to short-sellers.

Mr. Trump owns about 60 percent of shares, and company executives also hold a chunk of the stock. Company insiders tend not to lend their shares to short-sellers. Big asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, which regularly lend out shares, are not major holders of Trump Media, further crimping the supply.

According to S3, 4.9 million of the roughly five million available shares are already on loan. As with any loan, when share owners lend their stock to a short-seller, they charge a fee, usually expressed as an annual interest rate on the stock’s current value. Typically, the fee for borrowing stock is a fraction of a percentage point. For Trump Media, it has risen to 550 percent, Mr. Dusaniwsky said.

Trump Media’s stock currently trades at around $50. That means that shorting it for a month would cost more than $20 per share. For a short-seller to break even, the stock price would have to fall by almost half by early May.

There is another wrinkle, too. One large broker said much of the short trading was not an outright bet against Trump Media. Since the advent of meme-stock trading and the vilification of short-sellers that win only if popular companies lose, large investors are wary of making such trades.

Instead, the current trade driving demand is designed to capture the difference between DJT’s stock price and outstanding “warrants,” which will give the owners the right to new stock at a fixed price as long as regulators approve the new shares.

Partly because of that uncertainty, those warrants currently trade below $19, with a list of hedge funds as recent holders. Even after the high cost to borrow stock is accounted for, they are still able to profit from the $30 difference between existing stock and what the warrants are worth, assuming the warrants become registered as shares.

“There are still so many people looking to short the name,” Mr. Dusaniwsky said.

Bold bets can also be seen in the market for stock options, which are derivatives tied to the share price of a stock. Options are essentially a contract between two parties agreeing to a price for buying or selling a stock ahead of a specified date. Most of the interest has been for contracts with prices well above or well below the current stock level, according to data from CBOE Global Markets, meaning investors are betting on big movements in either direction — way up or way down.

The cost of these options is also very high, said Henry Schwartz, global head of client engagement, data and access solutions at CBOE. That, he said, might be because some of the investor base is politically and not economically motivated."

 

[The Duke]

This has nothing to do with the man, Donald Trump, nor Russians.

It does, however, have to do with a frenzy on the market, and corrupt people trying to make a fast buck.

As always, you are disingenuously trying to spin a story. Only the dumb will bleev a thing you write.

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble​

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

web.archive.org

Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble

The parent company of Truth Social is a popular target for short-sellers, even after they lost $100 million last month betting on a decline in the stock that didn’t come.

www.nytimes.com

". . . Last month, traders lost $126 million betting against Trump Media, according to S3.

On Monday, Trump Media published updated financial information, revealing little revenue, large losses and a statement from the company’s independent auditor expressing “substantial doubt” about its financial viability. This appeared to galvanize investors betting against the company, as the stock slipped from its highs.

But short-sellers are finding it difficult and costly to trade in Trump Media. There are roughly 137 million shares in the company, and only around five million of those are available to short-sellers.

Mr. Trump owns about 60 percent of shares, and company executives also hold a chunk of the stock. Company insiders tend not to lend their shares to short-sellers. Big asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, which regularly lend out shares, are not major holders of Trump Media, further crimping the supply.

According to S3, 4.9 million of the roughly five million available shares are already on loan. As with any loan, when share owners lend their stock to a short-seller, they charge a fee, usually expressed as an annual interest rate on the stock’s current value. Typically, the fee for borrowing stock is a fraction of a percentage point. For Trump Media, it has risen to 550 percent, Mr. Dusaniwsky said.

Trump Media’s stock currently trades at around $50. That means that shorting it for a month would cost more than $20 per share. For a short-seller to break even, the stock price would have to fall by almost half by early May.

There is another wrinkle, too. One large broker said much of the short trading was not an outright bet against Trump Media. Since the advent of meme-stock trading and the vilification of short-sellers that win only if popular companies lose, large investors are wary of making such trades.

Instead, the current trade driving demand is designed to capture the difference between DJT’s stock price and outstanding “warrants,” which will give the owners the right to new stock at a fixed price as long as regulators approve the new shares.

Partly because of that uncertainty, those warrants currently trade below $19, with a list of hedge funds as recent holders. Even after the high cost to borrow stock is accounted for, they are still able to profit from the $30 difference between existing stock and what the warrants are worth, assuming the warrants become registered as shares.

“There are still so many people looking to short the name,” Mr. Dusaniwsky said.

Bold bets can also be seen in the market for stock options, which are derivatives tied to the share price of a stock. Options are essentially a contract between two parties agreeing to a price for buying or selling a stock ahead of a specified date. Most of the interest has been for contracts with prices well above or well below the current stock level, according to data from CBOE Global Markets, meaning investors are betting on big movements in either direction — way up or way down.

The cost of these options is also very high, said Henry Schwartz, global head of client engagement, data and access solutions at CBOE. That, he said, might be because some of the investor base is politically and not economically motivated."

Hard pass! You could lose your ass real quick with options.

I think that stuff appeals to the gambling type.

 

[MisterBeale]

Hard pass! You could lose your ass real quick with options.

I think that stuff appeals to the gambling type.

Yup. . . that is what all this has to do with.

He wants to associate folks that are trying to manipulate the market, based and a short supply of what is available to be upon public offering, both to those who want to short the company, and those who want to invest, and make it all the fault of Trump.

. . . as if there is some conspiracy or corruption that is the fault of Trump.

If I were a senior mod? I would not even allow Synthaholic to even post in the main forum. All of his threads are lying and misinformation pieces of shit.

Nothing but rubber room fodder. He always makes deceptive thread titles.

 

[Synthaholic]

They got caught doing this last year.

I believe the headline is:

Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger

Has nothing to do with Trump merger.

False.

 

[The Duke]

I believe the headline is:

Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger


False.

The premise of your thread is bullshit, fucknugget. Has nothing to do with Trump.

 

[MisterBeale]

False.

I understood what he meant.

You wrote in yoar OP. . . THIS;

Where there's Trump, there are crimes being committed. Where there's Trump, there is corruption. Where there's Trump, there is a Russia connection.

Give us a tie in, show us a direct link to Trump please, show us how Trump knew anything about these two clowns. Anything at all, or admit this is a Rubber Room lying piece of shit thread!

 

[Synthaholic]

Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation​

Trump’s social media company went public relying partly on loans from trust managed by person of interest to prosecutors

 

[MisterBeale]

Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation​

Trump’s social media company went public relying partly on loans from trust managed by person of interest to prosecutors

Thank you.

It looks like I stand corrected.. . . 'cept. . . I don't understand where their claim of "illicit funds" come from? What makes them. . . . illicit? Is it just because of sanctions on Russia?

And by what right (probable cause?) did DHS open up an investigation into Truth Socials financials??

This, again, seems like a politicization of the government. I have a hard time seeing this as any different than the shit going on in China, Iran and Russia. Disgusting stuff really.

When the government acts corrupt and criminal? Than those who oppose it are criminals I suppose.

No one seems clean here. . . .

 

[para bellum]

Typical Guardian smear piece. Buried down in the article is the disclaimer...

"There is also no indication that Trump or Trump Media had any idea about the nature of the loans beyond that they were opaque, nor has the company or its executives been accused of wrongdoing."

The entire piece is nothing but innuendo and supposition.

 

[MisterBeale]

Typical Guardian smear piece. Buried down in the article is the disclaimer...

"There is also no indication that Trump or Trump Media had any idea about the nature of the loans beyond that they were opaque, nor has the company or its executives been accused of wrongdoing."

The entire piece is nothing but innuendo and supposition.

Yeah, I read that too.

The Guardian piece, does spin this a bit shady. That "Russian," involved, is actually a Russian American, he is the son of someone who had once worked with Putin. . . I am not sure that means anything.

I don't know shit about folks my dad worked with.


. . . and I am guessing, if he is, "Russian-American," he probably leans more American than Russian, TBH.

Lots of folks on this site, have absolutely no probably, not even seeing the duel citizenship of the British/American or Israel/American folks in our government, so yeah, it is a non-story in all likelihood.

This one was a much better job, but then, it wasn't backed by the British government or Chatham House.

Russian investor made millions off insider trading tied to Trump Media, court docs say

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article284580595.html

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article284580595.html#storylink=cpy

". . . A Russian-American businessman based in Miami is suspected of making nearly $23 million from alleged insider trading involving former President Donald Trump’s media company, according to federal court records.

The businessman, Anton Postolnikov, is the owner of a Caribbean bank that caters to the porn industry and also reportedly loaned $8 million to Trump’s media company. Postolnikov, who owns a few residences on exclusive Fisher Island in Miami, is the nephew of a former high-ranking Russian government official who at one time was a staffer for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports.

The insider trading allegations surfaced in court documents filed last month in a New York securities fraud case brought last year against three South Florida men: Michael Shvartsman, 52, of Sunny Isles Beach; Gerald Shvartsman, 46, of Aventura; and Bruce Garelick, 54, of Fort Lauderdale. They are accused of making about $23 million from insider trades on the Trump Media merger with a Miami-based company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., and sharing non-public information with friends and business associates about the impending deal so they could profit, according to an indictment.. . . ."

<snip>

". . . Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein said the fact that Postolnikov has not been charged and that his name appears unredacted in the FBI search warrant applications could suggest that he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors to avoid being prosecuted.

“It’s much easier to convince the government not to file something than to get them to dismiss something,” said Weinstein, former chief of the narcotics and national security sections of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.

The alleged insider trades aren’t the only financial connection between Postolnikov and the Trump company.

Dominica-based Paxum Bank, which public records show is controlled by Postolnikov, was reportedly the conduit of $8 million in loans to Trump Media, according to the Washington Post. The money came from a mysterious entity called the ES Family Trust, which listed a Paxum Bank employee named Angel Pacheco as the trustee, according to the Post. The connection between Postolnikov and the loans was also previously reported by the Guardian.

Trump Media has filed suit against the Washington Post for defamation. The company acknowledged last year to the SEC that it owes at least $2 million to the ES Family Trust.

Postolnikov is reportedly the nephew of Aleksander Smirnov, the former deputy minister of justice in Russia who worked in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s executive office for five years.

Companies tied to Postolnikov and his wife, Olga, have owned property in Miami for decades. One company tied to the couple bought a Fisher Island condo in 1995, while a different company controlled by the couple bought two properties — for a combined $13 million — in 2021, the same year in which Postolnikov is alleged to have made $22.8 million from his sale of Digital World stock. Collectively, the Fisher Island properties are worth more than $23 million.

Olga filed for divorce against Postolnikov in February 2023. The proceedings are ongoing.

Postolnikov is associated with multiple financial entities that have attracted both notoriety and regulatory penalties.

Paxum Bank, the conduit for the loans to Trump Media, previously made a name for itself by processing payments for pornography websites. A Paxum executive said in a 2021 interview that the company is “proud and happy to be considered the #1 trusted payment service for the adult industry!”

Postolnikov is also the chief executive and holds the controlling interest of the British financial technology company Dek-Co, which operates the payment company Paydek. Last year, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority banned the company from taking on new customers without the approval of the financial regulatory agency."

 

[para bellum]

The Guardian piece, does spin this a bit shady. That "Russian," involved, is actually a Russian American, he is the son of someone who had once worked with Putin. . . I am not sure that means anything.

It's a bunch of "guilt by association".

ES Trust bought some DWAC stock. Okay, apparently there was some insider knowledge, because the guys that were charged with insider trading were connected to the bank that was connected to ES Trust.

BFD. How does that implicate Trump in anything?

A. It doesn't. His name is just inserted gratuitously to cast aspersions.

Is Trump supposed to do background checks on everyone who invested in DWAC before the merger?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Where there's Trump, there are crimes being committed. Where there's Trump, there is corruption. Where there's Trump, there is a Russia connection.​

​

​

Two plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump Media merger​

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Two men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to insider trading in securities in the company that ultimately took former U.S. President Donald Trump's media business public.

Michael Shvartsman, 53, head of Miami-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital, and his brother Gerald Shvartsman, 46, each pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan.

Rocket One's chief investment officer, Bruce Garelick, is scheduled to face trial on related charges on April 29.

Prosecutors charged the trio last year with illegally trading on inside information about Trump Media & Technology Group's (TMTG) (DJT.O), opens new tab plan to go public through a merger with a blank-check company. TMTG operates Truth Social, Trump's main social media platform.

Prosecutors said the trio signed confidentiality agreements in June 2021 when they were approached to become early investors in Digital World Acquisition, the blank-check company. The agreements required them to keep information they learned confidential and not trade the company's securities in the open market, prosecutors said.

After hearing the company was in merger talks with TMTG, prosecutors said the trio tipped others and bought Digital World securities, selling them after the deal was announced on Oct. 20, 2021, to make a total of $22 million in illegal profit.

Michael and Gerald Shvartsman said in court that they knew what they Its a troubled corporation. were doing was wrong when they traded on nonpublic information.

"I've made a terrible mistake," Gerald Shvartsman said at the hearing.

Its a troubled corporation. Wont be around for long.

 

[Synthaholic]

Thank you.

It looks like I stand corrected.. . . 'cept. . . I don't understand where their claim of "illicit funds" come from? What makes them. . . . illicit? Is it just because of sanctions on Russia?

Could very well be. Illicit is outside the law.

 

[Synthaholic]

The entire piece is nothing but innuendo and supposition.

Stick it innuendo.

 

[Synthaholic]

Its a troubled corporation. Wont be around for long.

It's a Trump 'n Dump.

 

[MisterBeale]

Could very well be. Illicit is outside the law.

But you will notice. .. no reporting on THAT. . . just accusations and innuendo. We aren't told what is, "outside the law," what black market activity was done. Why not?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

It's a Trump 'n Dump.

Run on porn money from Dominica.