Ex-JPMorgan analyst cleared of insider trading charges (JPM)

April 18 (Reuters) - A federal judge has dismissed the remaining charges against a former JPMorgan Chase & Co investment banking analyst accused of engaging in an insider trading scheme, after a jury in February largely acquitted him.U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter in Los Angeles on Monday dismissed four counts of insider trading and tender offer fraud pending against Ashish Aggarwal, who previously worked at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in its San Francisco office.The decision, which was confirmed by lawyers for Aggarwal, came after a jury in February found him not guilty of 26 of 30 counts he faced. His lawyers argued the jury had already determined Aggarwal did not intend to commit the charged crimes."We are pleased that the court, in granting our motion, agreed with us that the government's case could not proceed, and correctly put an end to this prosecution," Aggarwal's lawyers, Grant Fondo and Derek Cohen, said in a joint statement.A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.Aggarwal was charged in August 2015 in connection with what prosecutors said were tips he provided a college friend, Shahriyar Bolandian, who they said in turn tipped his childhood friend, Kevan Sadigh.Prosecutors said Aggarwal tipped Bolandian to inside information before the announcements of Integrated Device Technology Inc's 2012 acquisition of PLX Technology Inc and Salesforce.com Inc's 2013 acquisition of ExactTarget Inc.Bolandian in turn told Sadigh in both cases, enabling them to trade ahead of the deals and make more than $600,000, prosecutors said. Both have pleaded not guilty and have yet to face trial.Aggarwal denied wrongdoing. His lawyers at trial said the prosecution's case was circumstantial and lacked evidence that Aggarwal knew about the trades before they happened, tipped his co-defendants or received anything in exchange.The case is U.S. v. Aggarwal et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 15-cr-465. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bernard Orr)SEE ALSO:Former JPMorgan analyst charged with leaking inside info on tech deals to friendsJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Your neighbor's WiFi is ruining yours ' here's how to fix it
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