$1 Billion Apple Scheme: Trader Charged In Massive Fraud Case

A $1 billion Apple scheme has left a New York trader charged with making massive stock purchases that ended up costing his employer $5 million.

Federal prosecutors charged David Miller, who concocted the $1 billion Apple scheme to trade 1.6 million shares of the company’s stock on the same day the company made its earnings report in October. He had banked on the company’s stock rising and pulling him a profit, but shares of Apple fell instead, The Associated Press reported.

Miller was filling out an order for a customer that wanted to buy 1,625 shares of Apple, but he falsely claimed that the order was actually for 1.6 million instead, claiming that it was just an accident.

Miller’s company, Rochdale Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, was left holding the 1.6 million shares of Apple stock and was forced to sell it for a $5 million loss.

The $1 billion Apple scheme was many weeks in the making, the New York Times reported. Miller had been making false representations to a brokerage firm to get it to short Apple stock, which helped him execute his own massive stock buy.

“As is so often seen in these types of cases, the alleged criminal conduct of Miller was for personal gain at the expense and detriment of others,” said FBI agent Kimberly K. Mertz in a statement. “Manipulating and orchestrating stock transactions in such a manner is a very serious criminal offense and its impact can be both devastating and lasting.”

The 40-year-old Miller faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted for the $1 billion Apple scheme.