LAX Leader

A California resident has been sentenced to two years in prison for participating in an insider trading scheme that generated over $650,000 in illegal profits.

Court documents and trial evidence revealed that Shahriyar Bolandian, aged 36, from the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, acquired confidential information regarding two corporate acquisitions between 2012 and 2013. The information was provided by his childhood friend, an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. Bolandian used this inside information to trade ahead of public announcements related to Integrated Device Technology Inc.'s planned acquisition of PLX Technology Inc. in April 2012 and Salesforce.com Inc.'s acquisition of ExactTarget Inc. in June 2013. Through these trades, Bolandian gained over $340,000, which he utilized to offset previous trading losses and repay loans.

In April 2024, a federal jury found Bolandian guilty on six counts of insider trading.

The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California; and Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.

The case was investigated by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.

Trial Attorney Della Sentilles from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Roach for the Central District of California, prosecuted the case.