NEW YORK — Three investors in Donald Trump’s media company were hit with insider trading charges Thursday, accused of reaping $22 million in illegal profits based on confidential information they told friends about on a gambling vacation.
Florida men Gerald Shvartsman, 45, Michael Shvartsman, 52, and Bruce Garelick, 52, were accused in Manhattan federal court of securities fraud charges carrying up to 20 years in prison. The feds say they spent millions on stocks in Digital World Acquisition Corporation in October 2021, aware it was about to enter a moneymaking merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social.
Garelick shared information he had access to as a board member of Digital World with the Shvartsman brothers in the alleged scheme, with all three selling their stock for a steep profit weeks after the deal was publicly announced, according to the feds.
