The former software engineer and his friend were sentenced to prison for their involvement in an insider trading scheme that made more than $3 million.
Junwoo Chon, a friend of the former employee, was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Friday, according to Seattle federal prosecutors. Jun and Chon were fined $25,000 for their crimes.
Jun and Chon pled guilty to the charges. The US Attorney's Office in the Western District of Washington said that Jun's brother and another software engineer at the company pled guilty.
Donald M. Voiret, the special agent in charge of the case, said in the statement that "Insider trading undermines our capital markets, harms companies by misusing their confidential information, and causes investors to lose faith in the fairness of the system." The actions of this trusted employee and his friend were calculated and ongoing to reap a huge profit.
Jun gave private subscriber data to his brother and brother-in-law, who profited from the information.
Ayden Lee continued to give Jun private subscriber information after Jun left the company, according to court documents. Next year, Lee and Joon Jun will be sentenced.
I was wrong to do what I did. Jun told the court that he had no excuse. I disappointed a lot of people.
Nick Brown said in a statement that the individuals involved were motivated by greed and will have to face consequences.
"Mr. Jun and Mr. Chon were both financially secure with good jobs and good salaries when greed drove them to break the law to increase their own wealth, at the expense of others," Brown said in a statement. Such conduct will not be accepted.
The SEC has filed a civil action against the defendants. Jun and Chon face additional penalties even though they have entered into settlements with the SEC.
"For people in the high tech industry, they will know that there are consequences for this activity, including prison time," Judge Richard Jones said in a press statement.
