Former Goldman Sachs Investment Banker Convicted At Trial Of Insider Trading Scheme And Obstruction Of Justice

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that BRIJESH GOEL, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, was convicted of insider trading and obstruction of justice.  GOEL was convicted after a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 19, 2023.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Brijesh Goel, a senior banker at a leading investment bank, betrayed the trust of his employer and unlawfully shared inside information with his squash partner in an agreement to trade on that information.  A federal jury has now convicted Goel of insider trading, and he faces time in prison for his conduct.  Today’s verdict should remind those in the capital markets that if you engage in insider trading, we will catch you and hold you accountable.”

According to the Indictment, statements made in public court proceedings and filings, and the evidence at trial:

BRIJESH GOEL was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York, New York.  In that position, GOEL received confidential, internal emails directed to Goldman Sachs’s Firmwide Capital Committee and Credit Markets Capital Committee, which contained detailed information and analysis about potential merger-and-acquisition transactions Goldman Sachs was considering financing.  In violation of the duties that he owed to Goldman Sachs, GOEL misappropriated that confidential information and tipped a friend (the “Friend”), who worked at another investment bank in New York, New York, with the names of potential target companies from those internal emails during in-person meetings (such as when the two met at New York Health and Racquet Club).  The Friend then used that confidential information to trade call options, including short-dated, out-of-the-money call options, in brokerage accounts that were in the name of the Friend’s brother.  GOEL and the Friend agreed to split the profits from their trading.  Between approximately 2017 and 2018, GOEL tipped the Friend on at least six deals in which Goldman Sachs was involved, yielding total illegal profits of approximately $280,000. 

Between approximately May and June 2022, GOEL also obstructed investigations by a Grand Jury in the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Specifically, GOEL deleted and asked the Friend to delete electronic communications regarding the insider trading scheme, including during an in-person meeting that the Friend consensually recorded.

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GOEL, 38, of New York, New York, was convicted of four counts of securities fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and tender offer fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Williams further thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for their assistance and cooperation in this investigation. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua A. Naftalis, Samuel P. Rothschild, and Andrew Thomas are in charge of the prosecution.