Ex-Qualcomm Exec Faces Insider Trading Charges

A former president of Qualcomm’s Global Business Operations faces 20 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine after being accused of insider trading.

Jing Wang, 51, of Del Mar was charged Monday with insider trading in shares of both Qualcomm and Atheros Communication stock.

He’s accused of using a secret brokerage account and phony company in the British Virgin Islands to hide the transactions.

U.S. attorney Laura Duffy said Wang, who was taken into custody by FBI agents Monday morning, made nearly $250,000 in profits from three illegal trades between 2010 and 2012.

“If this case has a message, it signals that no matter how vaulted your position, no matter how successful you are in business, you are not above the law when you cheat and defraud people to line your pockets with profits,” Duffy (pictured below) said at a news conference Monday. 

At his arraignment, prosecutors said Wang’s net worth is $10 million. Wang pleaded not guilty to the charges. His bond was set at $3 million.

He’ll be confined to his home and monitored via GPS until Oct. 8, when he will be required to secure the bond with sufficient assets.

Wang is also charged with conspiring with his brother, Bing Wang, and his former Merrill Lynch stock broker, Gary Yin, to obstruct an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and laundering the proceeds of his insider trading using an offshore company and secret brokerage account.

Yin appeared in federal court Tuesday and pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He faces five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced December 16.

Bing Wang currently lives in China.

Jim Wang left Qualcomm in May.

In a statement, the company said it has been aware of the investigation and has been cooperating fully with the government’s investigation.

“This is an individual matter involving Mr. Wang, who is no longer employed by Qualcomm, and this matter will now be addressed through the legal system," read the statement.

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