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A former Goldman Sachs investment banker who was found guilty of insider trading and obstruction of justice was jailed for three years by a New York judge.
Brijesh Goel had been at the bank since 2013 and rose to vice-president of Goldman's financing group in New York. The role gave him access to company information on potential deals that he passed onto a friend and Barclays banker, Akshay Niranjan.
Niranjan used the confidential information passed to him to trade call options. Such insider trading is illegal and is monitored by the Securities Exchange Commission.
Goel and Niranjan would use squash matches as cover for their activities. In one example of how they colluded, Goel texted Akshay saying "let's play squash after work," per the court records.
The next morning, another coded text read "did you book the court?" It was really asking if he'd purchased a set of call options as they'd discussed, lawyers argued.
From 2017 to 2018, the scheme netted illegal profits of about $280,000 that they divided between them.
After he was arrested in 2021, Goel deleted records of the tipoffs, or asked Akshay to do so.
At his trial earlier this year, Goel continued his attempts to obstruct justice, US District Judge P. Kevin Castel said.
"You took the stand right in this chair and you lied again and again and again," the judge told Goel.
Damian William, a US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who investigated Goel, said in a press release: "Today's sentence vindicates the integrity of our financial markets and the investors who play by the rules and serves as a reminder that crime doesn't pay."
As well as jail time, Goel faces significant financial penalties.
He will have to pay a fine of $75,000, forfeit $85,000, and has been ordered to recompense Goldman Sachs by an amount yet to be determined.
At his sentencing Goel was in tears, Bloomberg reported.
"I am deeply ashamed of my actions," he told the judge. "I apologize to Goldman Sachs, to my colleagues, everyone who felt betrayed by my actions."
