More than a trader, Harris was a middleman, trafficking in information for a slice of future profits
London/Paris — The coroner ruled it “death by misadventure”. By the time the concierge reached James Harris last June, he was lying in the hallway outside his apartment, arms and legs shaking, gasping for air. Although an ambulance crew raced in and administered an antidote for opiate overdoses, Harris’s pulse returned only briefly. Three minutes later, the 42-year-old British trader was dead.
Telemaque Lavidas, son of a pharmaceutical-company director who wasn’t implicated in the scheme, was convicted of leaking company secrets to one of Demane Debih’s trading partners, who prosecutors say was also part of the insider-trading network. He also had a dark side: one trader described him as an aggressive lout. Covered in tattoos strategically placed to be hidden by a dress shirt and pants, he was an odd figure among the traders who frequented celebrity hangouts such as the Chiltern Firehouse and members-only Tramp in London, or Les Caves du Roy in Saint Tropez, people who knew him said.
Once they’d built their positions, Harris, Choucair, Demane Debih and others would call journalists, including some at Bloomberg News. They were betting that if the reporters wrote a story, the stock would move and the traders could cash out. Bloomberg’s policy is not to publish any information without confirming it with people who have direct knowledge of the matter. The policy also prohibits telling sources if or when a story will be published.
Harris had been providing trading tips to Eugene Gourevitch, who ran a $45m securities account for the former leader’s son, Maksim Bakiyev. Gourevitch was arrested in 2011 and agreed to co-operate with the Justice Department to dismantle the insider-trading network. Harris and Munir were both arrested and pleaded guilty. Harris was sentenced to two years of supervised release, and Munir three. Harris was ordered to forfeit the $50,000 and a Ducati motorbike he bought with proceeds from the securities fraud. Gourevitch got five years. Charges against Bakiyev were dropped a few months later without explanation. Munir and a lawyer for Bakiyev didn't respond to requests for comment.
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