Former GOP congressman arrested on insider trading charges

Steve Buyer served as an Indiana representative from 1993-2011.

July 25, 2022, 1:37 PM

Former GOP Rep. Steve Buyer was arrested Monday on insider trading charges.

According to the complaint, Buyer, who has done consulting work since leaving Congress in 2011, "misappropriated material non-public information that he learned as a consultant and used [it] ... to place timely, profitable securities trades in brokerage accounts in his own name and the names of others."

In March 2018, Buyer attended a golf outing with an executive of T-Mobile, one of his consulting clients, from whom he learned about the company's then-nonpublic plan to acquire Sprint, the complaint said. Buyer began purchasing Sprint securities the next day, and, after news of the merger leaked in April 2018, Buyer saw an immediate profit of more than $107,000, according to the complaint.

PHOTO: Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer talks during the Hoosier Job Fair Monday, July 19, 2010, at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Ind.
Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer talks during the Hoosier Job Fair Monday, July 19, 2010, at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Ind.
Michael Heinz/AP, FILE

In total, Buyer's fraudulent trading activity based on nonpublic information in 2018 and 2019 resulted in profits of at least $349,846.61, the complaint said.

Buyer was arrested in Indiana where he was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court later Monday.

His arrest was the result of a joint investigation by several federal agencies including the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.

"It's always troubling whenever there's someone who has had a position in public authority to be engaging in this conduct," U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in announcing the charges against Buyer, which he did in conjunction with a number of other insider trading cases. His message to those involved: "Cut it out, because we're watching."

Williams said the crackdown on insider trading represents a follow-through on his pledge to be "relentless in rooting out crime in our financial markets."

"We have zero tolerance, zero tolerance for cheating in our markets," said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC Enforcement Division.

Buyer, who was first elected to the House from Indiana in 1992, announced in 2010 he would not seek another term amid ethical questions involving fundraising.

It wasn't immediately clear who was representing Buyer following his arrest.