Insider trader women appear in court in Mizuho love rat case
Lovers and profit-makers of former Mizuho banker plead innocent in case of insider trading
Single mother Christina Weckwerth and chiropractor Jessica Mang didn't know each other even existed, yet they shared two things in common, British prosecutors say.
Both were lovers of the same Mizuho International investment banker, Thomas Ammann, and both reaped large rewards as a result of his illegal insider tips on the same stock, in Weckwerth's case turning a US$1.3 million stake into nearly US$3.2 million, said Amanda Pinto, a lawyer for the UK Financial Services Authority.
Mang, a British chiropractor, realised £65,000 (HK$810,000) on a £39,000 (HK$486,000) stake, said Pinto in opening arguments at a London criminal court on Tuesday.
Both women were trading on illegal information and tips about Canon's acquisition of Oce NV, prosecutors said.
"Each of the girlfriends considered Thomas Ammann to be their boyfriend, and neither knew of the other," Pinto told the jury.
Both paid half the profits they made to Ammann, Pinto said. Weckwerth was charged with one count of insider trading between April and November 2009, and Mang with one count of insider trading in November of that year. They have pleaded not guilty. Insider trading in the UK can be punished by as much as seven years in prison.
