A Florida venture capitalist, his brother and an employee accused of insider trading before Digital World Acquisition’s proposed merger with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media company pleaded not guilty in a New York court today, Reuters reports.
Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, and Bruce Garelick were charged last month with trading illegally in Digital World before it announced its plan to combine with Trump Media & Technology Group in October 2021. The merger, which would take Trump Media public, has yet to occur.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman scheduled trial in the case for March 18, 2024.
Neither Trump nor his company, which operates the Truth Social app, was accused of wrongdoing in the case.
Michael Shvartsman led Rocket One Capital, a small Miami-based venture capital firm that employed Garelick as chief investment officer and placed all its trades in Digital World securities, court papers show. Gerald Shvartsman runs a furniture store.
The three were indicted last month on charges they used inside information about the deal to make $22 million in illegal trades.
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. Read more.
