Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Guilty Plea of Jason Goldfarb to Insider Trading Charges

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JASON GOLDFARB, an attorney, pled guilty today to conspiracy and securities fraud charges arising from a scheme in which GOLDFARB gave material, non-public information misappropriated from the law firm of Ropes & Gray to ZVI GOFFER, who allegedly traded on that information. GOLDFARB received cash payments for his role in the insider trading scheme. He pled guilty before U.S. District Judge RICHARD J. SULLIVAN.

According to the indictment, a complaint previously filed in this case, and statements made during today’s guilty plea proceeding:

In 2007 and 2008, two Ropes & Gray attorneys, ARTHUR CUTILLO and BRIEN SANTARLAS, provided JASON GOLDFARB with material, non-public information (“Inside Information”) about several mergers and acquisitions of public companies for which Ropes & Gray served as legal advisor. GOLDFARB, in turn, delivered the Inside Information to ZVI GOFFER. The Inside Information included information regarding the potential acquisition of 3Com Corporation (“3Com”) and the potential acquisition of Axcan Pharma, Inc. (“Axcan”). GOFFER is alleged to have provided cash payments to GOLDFARB, CUTILLO, and SANTARLAS in exchange for the Inside Information.

GOLDFARB, 32, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of securities fraud. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and the securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He faces a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense on the conspiracy count and a maximum fine of $5 million on the securities fraud count.

GOLDFARB is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge SULLIVAN on August 19, 2011, at 10:00 a.m.

CUTILLO and SANTARLAS both previously pled guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud charges. Charges against GOFFER remain pending and are merely accusations. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the SEC for its assistance in the investigation of this case.

This case was brought in coordination with President BARACK OBAMA’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. BHARARA serves as a co-chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President OBAMA established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys ANDREW FISH and RICHARD TARLOWE are in charge of the prosecution.