US prosecutors have charged a partner at consulting firm McKinsey with securities fraud for alleged insider trading ahead of Goldman Sachs’ $2.2bn acquisition of online loans provider GreenSky, accusing him of using privileged information to turn a profit of more than $450,000.
A criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court alleged that Puneet Dikshit, 40, a partner at McKinsey in New York, “used and employed manipulative and deceptive devices and contrivances” while providing consulting services to Goldman in order to glean confidential information about its impending acquisition of GreenSky.
Dikshit “exploited his access to material non-public information” about the deal, in a “breach of duties to his firm and its investment bank client — and violation of the law”, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, said in a statement.