Former Trade Desk employee arrested in alleged insider trading scheme
A former Trade Desk employee was arrested Aug. 20 on a federal indictment charging him with an insider trading scheme while he still worked at the Ventura-based advertising tech firm.
Jesse Mitchell, 48, of Ventura allegedly generated more than $338,000 in profits in the scheme, according to the indictment announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI’s New York field office.
The charges arise from an alleged insider trading scheme in which Mitchell traded on misappropriated material nonpublic information ahead of public earnings announcements by The Trade Desk, according to the indictment.
“Jesse Mitchell allegedly stole confidential information from his employer and made more than $300,000 in illegal trades,” Jamie McDonald, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release.
“Confidential information is not a personal profit opportunity, and today’s unsealing of the indictment makes that clear,” McDonald said.
He added that “insider trading not only harms investors and the companies from which the information was misappropriated, it undermines the public’s trust in our markets.”
Mitchell is charged with one count of securities fraud under Title 15, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of securities fraud under Title 18, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
