BUFFALO – New York’s 27th U.S. Congressional Representative Chris Collins was arrested Wednesday after a federal grand jury indicted him on insider trading charges.
The charges stem from the representative’s relationship with Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, a biotech company whose board he served on.
A criminal complaint explained that Collins, after learning of negative results for clinical trials for the company, notified his son of the results prior to a public release.
Prosecutors said, over the next few trading days, before the company released the results, Cameron Collins sold off more than a million shares of Innate Immunotherapeutics.
According to the complaint, Collins’ son tipped off his girlfriend and her father to the bad news.
In total, the trio sold off 1.78 million shares of the company.
When the news broke, officials say the company’s stock price imploded, dropping 90 percent, from 45 cents per share to less than 4 cents per share, in a single day.
“We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name,” said Collins’ attorneys in a statement. “It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated. Congressman Collins will have more to say on this issue later today.”
Collins represents the 27th Congressional District of New York that includes Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, and Livingston counties and parts of Erie, Monroe, Niagara, and Ontario counties.
