Spouse of Former Amazon Employee Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading

The spouse of a former finance manager who was employed with the giant online retailer, Amazon, pleaded guilty to an insider trading charge on Thursday, November 5th, 2020. The former Amazon employee leaked confidential information about the online retailers financial performance.

Prosecutors said Viky Bohra, 36, of Bothell, Washington, pleaded guilty to securities fraud that took place from 2015 to 2018. Bohra used tips provided to him by his wife, Laksha, to earn 1.43 million dollars of illegal profit trading Amazon stock. Authorities claim that Laksha Bohra took advantage of her job as a senior manager in Amazon’s tax department to provide tips to her husband. Several warnings against disclosing confidential information did not stop Laksha from doing so.

Viky Bohra used these tips to execute successful trades before Amazon, earning reports made it to the public. Authorities said that Viky executed these tips through accounts tied to him and his father, Gotham Bohra.

Prosecutors will recommend that Viky Bohra serve no more than 33 months in prison and agreed that Laksha Bohra will not deal with criminal charges. Viky Bohra will face sentencing on February 8th, 2021, before U.S. District Judge, James Robart, in Seattle, where Amazon is based. The Bohras settled civil charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September. They did this by agreeing to forfeit any trading profits and pay a combined fine of 1.11 million dollars.