Easy Money - Too Easy, the SEC Says

WASHINGTON (CN) – Two Capital-area friends made $1 million by illegal inside trading on information from an investment banker, the SEC claims in court.     Walter D. Wagner, 33, of Rockville, Md., made $571,784 from the illegal trades, and Alexander J. Osborn, 29, of Alexandria, Va. made $439,830, the SEC says in its 23-page lawsuit.     The men traded ahead on information they got by Wagner’s friend John W. Femenia, who worked at a bank that was considering whether to finance an acquisition, the SEC says.     Femenia was chargedin December 2012 with inside trading, and [barred](http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/04/04/Femenia Barred.pdf)from the securities industry.     The deal involved the acquisition of The Shaw Group by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.     Both defendants “trade[d] heavily” in Shaw Group securities ahead of the public announcement on July 30, 2012; the stock price jumped by 55 percent after the announcement, the SEC says.     Wagner agreed to settle by disgorging his ill-gotten gains, with interest and a penalty, the SEC said. It said a parallel criminal action has been brought by the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.     Osborn is fighting the charge.