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Canadian Insider Trading Scheme Ends in Suicide
The sad tale of two greedy friends and their last, biggest score
By Kevin Spak
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Posted Oct 29, 09 12:59 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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When Stanko Grmovsek pled guilty to criminal charges stemming from his insider trading activity on Tuesday, it ended a paperback-worthy tale of friendship and deceit, Reuters reports in an in-depth look at the biggest insider trading scheme in Canadian history. A day before his plea, Grmovsek’s co-conspirator and best friend, Gil Cornblum, jumped off a highway bridge to his death, done in by greed, depression, and not billing clients enough.
Cornblum and Grmovsek were law school buddies, and they used Cornblum’s position as a prominent Toronto business lawyer to buy stocks ahead of mergers. They pulled off 46 such trades, for a total of $9 million. Though they grew ever more cautious, they couldn't resist the next payday, and finally a million-dollar haul drew regulators' attention. When authorities checked the computers in Cornblum’s law office, they saw he’d stayed late to access records without billing clients for the time. It was the fatal flaw that led authorities to him—and eventually led him to his death.