Former San Francisco Investment Banker Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading

SAN FRANCISCO—Adnan S. Zaman pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco today to committing securities fraud through his participation in insider trading, United States Attorney Joseph P Russoniello announced.

In pleading guilty, Zaman, who was an investment banker with Lazard Ltd. in San Francisco during the relevant period, admitted to participating in an insider trading scheme from in or about September 2006 through in or about May 2007. Lazard was a financial advisory and asset management firm which, among other things, provided advice to public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and capital raising.

In violation of his fiduciary and other duties of trust and confidentiality, and contrary to Lazard’s policies and training, Zaman misappropriated material, non-public information from Lazard and its clients, and tipped other individuals who executed securities transactions based upon that information. Those persons also traded upon tips Zaman passed to them about material, non-public information he obtained from a friend who worked for the San Francisco office of an entity whose business involved, among other things, the acquisition of publicly-traded companies.

The tippees profited in excess of $400,000, and paid to Zaman cash and other financial benefits valued at approximately $68,800.

Zaman, 30, of San Jose, Calif., was charged in a criminal information filed on Dec. 16, 2009, with one count of securities fraud (insider trading), in violation of 15 United States Code Sections 78j(b) and 78ff. Zaman posted bond and has been out of custody since his arraignment on Dec. 17, subject to certain terms and conditions of release.

The sentencing of Zaman is scheduled for April 23, 2010, before Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for securities fraud in violation of 15 United States Code Sections 78j(b) and 78ff is 20 years and a fine of $5,000,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, plus restitution if appropriate. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. Section 3553.

Thomas E. Stevens is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Ponly Tu. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledges the valuable assistance of the Washington D.C. Headquarters Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the cooperation of Lazard Ltd., in this investigation.

Further Information:

Case #: CR-09-1178-SI

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's Web site at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's Web site at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.