A Brentwood man, Shahriyar Bolandian, has been handed a two-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an insider trading scheme. Bolandian, 36, was convicted on six counts of insider trading after a jury trial in April 2024, engaging in financial maneuvers that illegally acquired over $650,000, a portion of which he pocketed. "This defendant – now a convicted felon – illegally traded on inside information to enrich himself and others," United States Attorney Martin Estrada stated, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The insider trading activities date back to 2012 and 2013 when Bolandian capitalized on non-public information on corporate buyouts. This included trades before the announcements of Integrated Device Technology Inc.'s intention to buy PLX Technology Inc., and Salesforce.com Inc.'s subsequent acquisition of ExactTarget Inc., through which he netted $450,000, a portion of these ill-gotten gains served to offset his prior trading losses and to reimburse debts to acquaintances and family members, as the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California reported.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil complaint against Bolandian in August 2015, with this case still in the courts. Alongside Bolandian, Kevan Sadigh, also implicated in the scheme, received a sentence of two years of probation, Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. ordered him to forfeit $36,684 and to pay a monetary judgment of $206,525. After a separate jury trial in July 2024 found him guilty of seven counts of insider trading, Sadigh's benefit from the scheme totaled roughly $200,000, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
The prosecution saw contributions from Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew M. Roach of the General Crimes Section and Solomon D. Kim of the Major Frauds Section, as well as Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as detailed in a statement to the public by Ciaran McEvoy, Public Information Officer.
