Mr Mohammed Zina was today found guilty of six insider trading offenses and three fraud offenses following a 12-week trial at Southwark Crown Court brought by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Between 2014 and December 2017, Mohammed Zina worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs International. Through his role in the Conflict Resolution Group, which he joined in 2016, he was in possession of confidential information about potential mergers and acquisitions on which his employer was advising.
Between 15 July 2016 and 4 December 2017, Mr Zina traded six shares using this inside information: Arm Holdings plc; Alternative Networks plc; Punch Taverns plc; Shawbrook plc; HSN Inc; and Snyder’s Lance Inc.
The total profit from trading in these shares was approximately £140,486.
The deal was partly funded by three loans, fraudulently obtained from Tesco Bank, totaling £95,000.
He will be sentenced on Friday February 16 at 10am.
Suhail Zina was acquitted of all charges against him in the same trial after the fraud charges were dropped and it was found that there was insufficient evidence in relation to the insider trading charges.
Insider trading is a criminal offense punishable, on conviction, by a fine and/or imprisonment of up to seven years for offenses committed before 1 November 2021. This has been increased to 10 years for offenses committed on or after 1 November 2021. Fraud is punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment of up to 10 years.