A Virginia man pleaded guilty today for committing insider trading and making false statements about his trading to his employer, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (FRBR).
According to court documents, Robert Brian Thompson, 43, of Mosley, worked as a bank examiner and senior manager with supervisory duties for the FRBR. Due to his position, Thompson was privy to confidential information about certain financial institutions under FRBR’s supervision, including confidential supervisory information (CSI), which is the property of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. As an employee of the FRBR, Thompson was also required annually to file a “Form for Employees Involved with Supervision and Regulation,” which is also called a “Form D.” Among other things, Form D requires employees to disclose if they have any assets, including any equity interest in any banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System and/or bank holding companies.
From October 2020 through February 2024, Thompson misappropriated confidential information, including CSI, to execute trades in publicly traded financial institutions. In total, Thompson executed 69 trades in seven different publicly traded financial institutions for a total of approximately $771,678 in personal profits. To conceal the scheme, in each year from 2020 through 2024, Thompson falsely represented on the FRBR’s Form D that he had no assets, including no equities in any publicly traded financial institutions, and that he had not engaged in any activity that would constitute conflicts of interest, violations of FRBR policies, or violations of law.
Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading and one count of making false statements. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the insider trading count and five years in prison on the false statements count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Special Agent in Charge John Perez of Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-OIG) made the announcement.
FRB-OIG is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Della Sentilles and former Assistant Chief Leslie S. Garthwaite of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas A. Garnett for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.