SEC charges Stamford executive with insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged an executive at the Stamford-based electronics company, Harman International Industries with insider trading in the company”™s stock.

The SEC alleges that Dennis Wayne Hamilton of Norwalk made more than $130,000 in illegal profits by trading on nonpublic information he learned on the job in advance of Harman”™s release of its fiscal year 2014 first quarter earnings.

In a parallel action, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Deirdre M. Daly”™s office announced criminal charges against Hamilton, who was arrested on Feb. 5 on a criminal complaint charging him with securities fraud-insider trading, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

According to the SEC”™s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, Hamilton, who served as vice president of tax at Harman, allegedly reviewed Harman”™s earnings and learned the company would report stronger-than-expected results for its FY14 first quarter, which spanned from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2013.

The day before Harman publicly released the financial results, Hamilton purchased 17,000 shares of Harman stock at a cost of more than $1.2 million.  He allegedly liquidated his position when the quarterly results were publicly announced.

Harman”™s stock price rose more than 12 percent on the news and Hamilton”™s illicit trading produced one-day profits in excess of $130,000.

Following his arrest, Hamilton appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was released on a $2 million bond into home confinement with electronic monitoring.

The SEC”™s investigation continues alongside the FBI’s.