Two brothers from Miami pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan for their role in a nearly $23 million insider-trading scheme surrounding the 2021 announcement that former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company planned to merge with a cash-rich shell company.
Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, who had pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges last summer, were set to go on trial later this month.
But the brothers decided this week to forgo a trial, instead entering their guilty pleas before Judge Lewis J. Liman of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Each man pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.
Michael Shvartsman, who ran a venture investment firm called Rocket One, used some of the proceeds from the scheme to buy a $14 million luxury yacht that he named Provocateur.
Persons:
Donald J, Michael, Gerald Shvartsman, Judge Lewis J, Liman, Michael Shvartsman
Organizations:
Southern, of, Trump Media & Technology Group, Acquisition Corporation
Locations:
Miami, Manhattan, U.S, of New York