Smiley face with dollar sign eyes. I think you know what I’m saying. You’re busted! I’m Amy E. Feldman.
A single emoji is being used as evidence against a lawyer accused of insider trading. According to a federal indictment and SEC lawsuit, the lawyer’s friend, who was an insider at a publicly-traded company, told the lawyer about the company’s phenomenal growth before that information was public and based on the tip, according to the SEC, the lawyer bought forty thousand dollars of stock. When the company’s financials were publicly announced several days later, the share price increased dramatically and the lawyer made more than a hundred thousand dollars.
As evidence of insider trading, the SEC included a picture of the emoji the lawyer texted his friend —a smiley face with dollar signs at the eyes. Love them or hate them, emojis are a form of communication and can be used as evidence in court of what the user was trying to communicate. Whatever this lawyer intended, the SEC is giving him a big thumbs down.
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