David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, along with P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has announced that Ryan Squillante, a 40-year-old resident of Weston, has pleaded guilty to an insider trading offense. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford after Squillante waived his right to be indicted.
Court documents and statements reveal that Squillante was employed as the Head of Equity Trading at Irving Investors, an investment company based in Denver, Colorado. His role allowed him access to material non-public information (MNPI) about various publicly traded companies. Between August 2022 and May 2023, he used this MNPI for personal gain by executing securities transactions on 15 different occasions, earning a total profit of $220,912.
One notable incident occurred in February 2023 when Squillante obtained MNPI regarding Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company listed on NASDAQ. From February 27 to March 2, 2023, he "sold short" 38,086 shares of Praxis at an average price per share of approximately $3.04. On March 3, following an announcement by Praxis about poor drug trial results that did not meet primary endpoints with statistical significance, Squillante "covered" his short sale by purchasing the same number of shares at an average price per share of approximately $1.82. This transaction resulted in a profit of around $46,421.
Squillante's guilty plea pertains to securities fraud charges that carry a maximum imprisonment term of 20 years. Sentencing is set for August 29 by Judge Oliver.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather L. Cherry is prosecuting the case.
