Three investors in the SPAC that has agreed to take Trump Media & Technology Group public were indicted on charges they used inside information about the deal to make $22 million in illegal trades, Bloomberg reports.
Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) is the SPAC that has signed a deal to merge with Trump Media, which runs Donald Trump’s “Truth Social” network, and take it public.
Michael Shvartsman, the CEO of Rocket One Capital. and his brother Gerald Shvartsman, were named in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Bruce Garelick, chief investment officer of Rocket and a former member of the DWAC board, was also named.
The defendants allegedly tipped off friends and colleagues, who also purchased securities in Digital World before the blank-check firm’s Trump Media deal became public.
All three have surrendered to authorities and are expected to appear in federal court in Miami later today, a law enforcement official said.
The SEC also filed civil insider trading charges against the three investors.
There is no allegation that Donald Trump had any involvement at all in the alleged insider trading. Trump Media did not respond to a request for comment.
However, the new charges add to the controversy surrounding the Trump deal, which has raised eyebrows from legal experts and drawn scrutiny from regulators and prosecutors. Read more.
