One insider trading story, two happy endings!
Lord knows, we’ve done our best to keep our readers out of these situations, but we’ll cut Eric Holzer (formerly of Paul Hastings) a break, since he was the impetus for Insider’s Tip #1 for Wannabe Insider Traders. We hadn’t started dishing out the advice when he was busted. We’re doing our best to make sure none of you end up as inept as Melissa Mahler.
The conclusion to Holzer’s saga (and the exciting explanation of the picture), after the jump.
To quickly recap, as we first described the story:
This time around, we have Eric Holzer (Brooklyn Law, indeterminate year, but he was admitted in 2003 and is currently delinquent), a 34-year old, currently suspended tax associate from Paul Hastings. Holzer was friends with, and apparently did taxes for, Matthew and Nina Devlin. Nina is a PR executive at Brunswick Group, which advised on a number of high-profile mergers. Matt was a broker at Barclay’s Wealth Unit. Matt was a classy guy – depending on how you look at it, that’s sarcastic or not. He was stealing information about the upcoming deals from his wife (good spin: he wanted to protect her; bad spin: he was stealing from his wife).
The first happy ending, as you may recall, was back in June:
We love happy endings to insider-trading stories. Come on, who didn’t shed a tear when Bud walked back into the Blue Sky hangar? Anyway, we’re pleased to report that Nina Devlin, star of Insider’s Tip #1 for Wannabe Insider Traders (watch out for the watch list), has landed on her feet. Nina’s hubby Matt was taking information she got through her job as a flack and sharing it with friends, including a former Paul Hastings tax lawyer. The “Golden Goose” as classy Matt and his friends called her, is now working at PR giant Edelman. Nina was never charged with anything. Matt, Eric Holzer (the PH lawyer), and some of the other traders have pled guilty. [HT: SAI]
Now Holzer has had some good luck of his own. He’s not going to jail:
Southern District of New York Judge Victor A. Marrero ordered Holzer to spend nine months in a halfway house, on weekends if he chooses, although the guidelines range for his crimes, as well as the U.S. Department of Probation, called for a minimum of one year behind bars. Holzer, 35, choked back sobs as he appealed to Marrero for leniency in sentencing him for single counts of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. “I’ve embarrassed myself, my friends, my family and my colleagues,” he told the court. “I want you to know. I need you to know, that you’ll never find Eric Holzer in this kind of situation again.” The guidelines called for a sentencing range of between 12 and 18 months in prison, but Marrero said he agreed with the probation department’s assessment that this was “a good person who made a terrible mistake.”
Congratulations, Eric!
And as for the picture, that’s Michael Douglas on the set of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
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