Republican congressman out of New York Chris Collins has been indicted by the federal government for insider trading. The indictment comes amid an ongoing investigation into the Australian bio-tech firm Innate in which Collins owned stock and served on its board of directors.
Also named in the indictment are Collins’ son Cameron and Cameron’s soon-to-be father-in-law in which all three are suspected of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and lying to the FBI.
Via CNN:
The House Ethics Committee last October revealed that it was investigating Collins, for potentially violating federal law and House rules regarding insider trading. The outside, non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics began a review of Collins’ activity in March 2017 and voted to send its findings to the House ethics panel that July, which can formally launch investigations and recommend any sanctions against any lawmaker it determines has broken any rules. The ethics committee announced in the release of the report that it would start a review of Collins.
Collins was arrested Wednesday morning when he surrendered at his lawyers office. Collins’ official government website also posted the following statement in the wake of the Congressman’s arrest.
“We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name. It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated.
Congressman Collins will have more to say on this issue later today.”
According to Politico in 2017, Innate shares plummeted over 90 percent costing Collins roughly $17 million dollars while Politico’s Jake Sherman tweeted out that he often heard Collins discuss in the Speaker’s Lobby how he would ‘make people rich off stock tips’.
I heard him in the speaker’s lobby talking about how he made people rich off stock tips https://t.co/SRny94f11K
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) August 8, 2018
Collins made headway during the 2016 presidential election when he became the first sitting member of Congress to endorse then candidate Donald Trump.
If convicted on these charges, Collins faces several years in prison.
Click to access U-S-v-Christopher-Collins-Et-Al-Indictment-18-Cr.pdf
