SEC drops insider trading suit against ex-healthcare executive pardoned by Trump

WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it was moving to dismiss an ‌insider trading lawsuit against Terren Peizer, a former healthcare executive ‌who was convicted of insider trading by a federal jury in 2024 and then pardoned ​by President Donald Trump.

• In 2023, Peizer, 65, the founder and former chief executive of healthcare company Ontrak, was charged by the Department of Justice with insider trading.

• The SEC also launched civil insider ‌trading charges against him ⁠in a parallel action.

• At the time, authorities called the charges groundbreaking. It was the first criminal case involving ⁠the use of a pre-arranged stock-selling program designed to help shield executives from such charges.

• Peizer sold more than $20 million of Ontrak stock between May ​and August ​2021 while in possession of material ​non-public negative information related to ‌the company's largest customer, authorities said.

• He was convicted of insider trading by a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2024. Jurors found him guilty of two counts of insider trading and one count of securities fraud.

• Peizer ​was a protege of Michael Milken, once ​considered Wall Street's "junk bond ​king."

• In 2020 during his first term, Trump had pardoned ‌Milken, who had previously pleaded ​guilty to securities fraud ​and served about two years in prison.