Ex AT&T Worker Admits To Selling iPhone Secrets To Traders

A former AT&T employee admitted this week that he sold company secrets such as sales numbers for Apple's popular iPhone smartphone to traders. Traders then turned around and bought AT&T stock-based on the illegally obtained information. The former employee in question is a 57-year-old Alnoor Ebrahim.

Ebrahim is facing charges of insider trading and is said to have been part of an expert-network ring where some employees of firms such as Primary Global Research helped funnel corporate secrets from consultants to hedge fund managers who then allegedly purchased stock based on the information. The man pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud.

Ebrahim made a plea agreement with Manhattan federal prosecutors, and the recommended punishment was a maximum of two years in prison. The federal government is cracking down on insider trading and has recently been filing charges, including last week's case filed against former Goldman Sachs group board member Rajat Gupta for alleged insider trading.

"I provided insider information concerning AT&T's sales of Apple's iPhone and RIM's (Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO)) Blackberry products, as well as other handset set devices sold through AT&T distribution channels," Ebrahim told U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan.

[via Reuters]