News reports show he was charged on Dec. 18, 2008, in connection with a $4.8 million scheme to profit from information that former Lehman Brothers employee Matthew Devlin gleaned from his wife, Nina Devlin, a partner at the public relations firm Brunswick Group. Matthew Devlin pleaded guilty to securities fraud and four counts of conspiracy in December 2008 as part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors. Nina Devlin was not charged as it was found she was unaware of her husband's actions.
SEC Bars CPA Tax Attorney
A New York CPA tax attorney has been barred from practicing before the SEC after he pleaded guilty to securities violations for his role in an insider trading scheme in which he made $119,347 from trading on pending corporate mergers and other transactions. Eric Holzer faced those charges for his actions in 2005.
Holzer, a former tax associate at Paul Hastings, pleaded guilty on May 7, 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count securities fraud. Although he avoided prison, Holzer was sentenced to five years of probation and to spend time in a halfway house, ordered to pay an assessment of $200 and a criminal fine of $15,000 and to forfeit the proceeds he obtained on the trades. He was also disbarred.
