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(Bloomberg) — A former professional soccer player illegally made $2.7 million on tips about deals involving companies including Apollo Global Management Inc. and Discover Financial Services pilfered from his then-romantic partner’s work-issued laptop at a public relations firm, authorities said Tuesday.
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Justin Jennings, owner of Wyoming-incorporated Vortex Strategies, accessed a confidential database inside his partner’s work computer for more than two years to place well-timed trades based on news about eight public companies, federal prosecutors in New Jersey said in a statement.
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His partner worked at a New York communications and investor relations firm that advised companies about corporate disclosures around upcoming mergers, earnings announcements and other market-moving events, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said in a parallel civil lawsuit filed Tuesday.
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The SEC didn’t name the firm and declined to comment beyond its lawsuit. Joele Frank, the prominent Wall Street communications firm, said that it had employed the girlfriend and said it cooperated with the government.
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“This individual exploited a personal relationship with a now former junior employee to illegally obtain confidential information,” the firm said in a statement. “There are no allegations against the firm or any employee, current or former. We worked closely with the relevant authorities and will continue to do so.”
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Jennings, 27, and Vortex “adamantly deny” the SEC’s and the federal prosecutors’ claims, attorneys Robert Stahl and Laura Gasiorowski said in a statement. “Once the evidence is presented, we are confident that Mr. Jennings will be vindicated and both he and his firm will be vindicated,” they said. Jennings is not in custody and scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in Newark on July 15.
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The then-romantic partner, an account executive at the firm, didn’t work on any of the corporate disclosures and didn’t place any of the trades, which included common stock and stock options, the indictment states.
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The suit against Jennings is the latest in a string of cases alleging insider trading based on confidential information stolen from a romantic partner, several of which stemmed from people working at home during the coronavirus pandemic. A former FBI trainee is among at least three men accused of using deal data stolen from a wife or girlfriend.
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Jennings and his partner became romantically involved around 2019 while she was in college and he was playing professional soccer in Europe, according to the indictment. The indictment doesn’t name the teams he played for.
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Unlocked Laptop
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She began working for the public relations firm around September 2021. She typically left her laptop unlocked and allowed Jennings to use it to access subscription-based news services, prosecutors said.
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When the laptop was unlocked, no additional password was needed to access the firm’s database, which included draft press releases and strategy documents, the SEC said. Jennings allegedly made his trades between February 2022 and October 2024.
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