SEC obtains final judgment against former Snap engineer charged with insider trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a final judgment against former Snap Inc. engineer Mohammed “Mo” Pithapurwala and his wife Alifiya Kutiyanawalla. The former Snap employee was charged with insider trading.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in December 2021 in federal district court in Los Angeles, alleged that Pithapurwala unlawfully tipped his brother-in-law, Ammar Kutiyanawalla, who purchased Snap options on the basis of material nonpublic information ahead of the company’s February 6, 2018 earnings announcement. As alleged in the complaint, Pithapurwala and Alifiya funded Ammar’s Snap trading by transferring $20,000 to Ammar through intermediaries, and Ammar and Pithapurwala agreed to share the profits.
The SEC charged Alifiya, who is Ammar’s sister, with aiding and abetting the insider trading.
Pithapurwala and Alifiya consented to the entry of a judgment permanently enjoining them from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Pithapurwala agreed to pay a civil penalty of $523,031, and Alifiya agreed to pay a civil penalty of $75,000.