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Compliance July 6, 2009
Ex-Goldman Programmer Nabbed in Trade Secret Theft Scheme
A former Goldman Sachs computer programmer was charged with stealing trade secrets based on the theft of computer codes used for automated stock and commodities trading.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
According to Reuters, quoting court documents, Sergey Aleynikov was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Kevin Nathaniel Fox to be held in federal custody pending the posting of a bond. FBI agents nabbed Aleynikov, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey, at Newark Liberty International Airport upon return from Chicago.
While the court documents do not specify the victim financial institution, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters columnist Matthew Goldstein that the company involved is Goldman Sachs.
In court papers, an FBI agent said Aleynikov worked at an unspecified financial institution as a programer from May 2007 until June 5, when he left to work for a new company focused on high-volume automated trading.
Aleynikov’s wife, Elina, told Reuters on Sunday that her husband worked hard for Goldman and has been a good citizen who has lived in the United States for 19 years.