United States v. Peltz
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
433 F.2d 48 (1970)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
Philip Peltz (defendant), an attorney, instructed brokers to effect short sales of Georgia Pacific stock based on confidential inside information that he received from an employee of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about matters being considered by the SEC. Peltz did not tell the brokers that he was short-selling; he told two brokers that he owned the shares and a third broker that the shares he wanted to sell belonged to his mother. After the SEC announced it had sued Georgia Pacific, the price of the stock fell, and Peltz made a profit when he covered his short sales. Peltz was indicted and convicted for willful violation of §10(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and SEC Rule 10a-1(a) based on his short sales in Georgia Pacific stock. On appeal, Peltz argued that there was insufficient evidence at trial for the district court to have submitted the section 10(a) counts to the jury because the statute only applies to brokers and dealers, and he did not willfully violate the statute because he did not instruct the brokers to make short sales.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Friendly, J.)
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