Former Pharma Exec Charged with Insider Trading on Kodak’s $765M Pandemic Loan
An ex-pharma executive and his cousin were arrested for insider trading in relation to the announcement that Kodak would be receiving a loan from the government tied to Covid.
Andrew Stiles, a former executive, obtained information on Kodak’s loans applications to make chemicals for Covid-19 drugs. He then traded the information with his cousin. Bloomberg reports that the pair earned more than $500,000 together, according to a new Bloomberg report.
Stiles was then an executive in a company that was working on the project with Kodak. According to authorities, he bought “more than 100,000 shares” before stock prices soared following Donald Trump’s White House announcement that it would lend $765 million to the company.
According to the report, Stiles’ cousin earned “more than $700,000.00” from the trade. Letitia James, New York’s Attorney General, led the insider trading investigation. She also alleged that James Continenza, Chief Executive Officer of Kodak was violating laws by purchasing shares before the announcement. Despite this, Kodak claims that Continenza was “pre-cleared to purchase the shares.”
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Stiles’ LinkedIn listing lists Phlow Corp. as his workplace dating back to the time that the trading occurred. Phlow stated in May 2020 that it was awarded $354 million by the government to produce pandemic-response medication.
Stiles and Stiles’ cousin were both charged with three counts each of securities fraud as well as one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and securities fraud. The Kodak loan was originally intended to help the company repurpose its manufacturing facilities in order to make drug ingredients.
