Federal authorities say the insider trading scheme went on for five years.
Two pharmaceutical company executives are among six people charged in what federal authorities in New Jersey today called a five-year insider trading scheme.
John Lazorchak, 42, of Long Valley in Washington Township, Morris County, was director of financial reporting at Celgene Corp. and Mark Cupo, 51, of Morris Plains, N.J., held a similar position at Sanofi-Aventis.
The U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey says that between 2007 and 2012, Lazorchak and Cupo passed privileged information on their companies' merger and acquisition plans, financial results and regulatory applications to others who would make stock trades.
The scheme allegedly reaped $1.4 million.
Lazorchak, Cupo and the others are charged with conspiracy and multiple counts of securities fraud. Each securities fraud count carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence.
They were scheduled to appear in federal court in Newark this afternoon. Their attorneys were in court and unavailable for comment.