SAN FRANCISCO — Sharing tips with a friend, a former Nvidia Corp. employee set off a chain of bicoastal insider trading that netted hedge funds millions, according to a complaint filed Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC announced that it has settled insider trading charges with Chris Choi, a former accounting manager at the Santa Clara-based chip maker. SEC officials allege that the 45-year-old San Jose man disclosed confidential information about Nvidia’s performance to a friend, who then passed the tips on to a chain of hedge funds. The recipients used the inside information to turn a profit and avoid losses for a combined value of approximately $16.5 million, according to the complaint.
