The Buffalo News is reporting that NY Congressman Chris Collins - arrested today by the FBI on charges of insider trading - was thrown under the bus by his future daughter-in-law and her mother. The two women settled their cases with the SEC, forfeiting their "ill-gotten gains" and paying fines in exchange for not being prosecuted. The future daughter-in-law, a CPA, has been barred from practicing for at least five years.
Collins, his son, and his son's future father-in-law were all arrested today by the FBI, but the ladies cut a deal with the SEC which included details about the insider trading scheme. Speaker Paul Ryan removed Collins as chairman of the Commerce Committee "until this issue is resolved", and there are five or six other GOP Congressmen who are being looked at because they also invested in the company based on a Collins tip. Whether they got out before the bottom fell out of the stock is unknown.
Collins himself did not sell any stock, but he couldn't - the stock was frozen in Australia, where the company is located and where his shares are held. The stock was not frozen on the US stock exchange, where his family held their shares. However, insider trading involves at least two people - a "tipper" and a "tippee", both of whom are equally responsible for the crime.
Either that wedding engagement is off at this point, or Thanksgiving dinner is going to be really interesting at the Collins household this year...
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