3 charged in insider trading case related to taking ex-President Donald Trump's media company public

Three Florida men were arrested Thursday and charged with illegally making more than $22 million by insider trading ahead of the public announcement that a special purpose acquisition corporation was going to take a media company owned by former President Donald Trump public.

The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court that did not implicate Trump in any way. The indictment was among four separate insider trading cases brought against 10 people, including a Pfizer employee and associate and an investment firm executive director.

According to the indictment pertaining to the media company, the men were invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corp. and were provided confidential information that a potential target of DWAC and another acquisition corporation, Benessere Capital Acquisition Corp., was Trump Media & Technology Group.


Authorities said the defendants bought millions of dollars of DWAC securities on the open market before news of the Trump media business was made public.

After the public announcement, the men dumped their securities for a significant profit, according to the court papers.

"Insider trading is not easy money," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release. "It's cheating. It's a bad bet. Because my Office, the Southern District of New York, is watching. And we're working quickly to investigate and prosecute anyone who corrupts our financial markets. And we'll keep at it as long as it takes. You can bet on that."

The men who were arrested were identified as Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick. It was not immediately clear who will represent them at initial court appearances in Florida.