SEC to Dismiss Herbalife Case After Roommates Flee to Poland

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The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday filed to dismiss charges against a man accused of profiting from privileged information related to the embattled Los Angeles nutritional supplement company Herbalife.

The SEC had charged Jordan Peixoto of Toronto with insider trading based on information he received about then-undisclosed plans by Bill Ackman and Pershing Square Capital Management to bet against Herbalife. In 2012, Peixoto bought Herbalife options that earned him roughly $47,100 once Ackman’s plans were made public. Ackman has been attacking Herbalife for two years, claiming the company’s business model is a pyramid scheme.

According to the SEC, Peixoto’s then-roommate, Filip Szymik, gave him the low down on Ackman’s planned short. Szymik had learned the information from his other roommate, Mariusz Adamski, who was then an analyst with Pershing Square. Adamski and Szymik have since left New York City for their native Poland.

The SEC said it is dismissing the charges against Peixoto because Adamski and Szymik aren’t available to testify at the trial, which had been set for March, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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