A federal judge has frozen the assets of two unknown stock traders amid allegations that they used insider trading to make $2 million from Chevron’s announcement to buy The Woodlands-based oil company Anadarko Petroleum.
U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Woods with the Southern District of New York handed down the order late Monday morning and ordered an investigation to identify the pair of traders.
The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that two unknown traders used foreign brokerage accounts in the United Kingdom and Cyprus to buy suspicious amounts of call options to purchase Anadarko stock in the weeks before Chevron’s April 12 announcement to buy Anadarko for $33 billion.
The traders allegedly made $2 million in profits after the merger and acquisition announcement, which sent Anadarko stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange soaring from $46.80 per share to well above $63 per share.
Judge Woods’ order required that any funds or assets located outside the U.S. that were obtained from the alleged insider trading be repatriate to the United States.
The insider trading allegations are the latest twist in the proposed $33 billion merger and acquisition deal between Chevron and Anadarko.
Houston oil company Occidental Petroleum has made competing bid, offering to buy Anadarko for $38 billion.
Anadarko issued a Monday morning statement saying the company remains committed to the deal with Chevron but has agreed to resume negotiations with Occidental Petroleum.
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