Suburban Chicago woman sentenced to prison after making $286K off insider trading

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago woman was sentenced to a year in prison Tuesday for using insider trading information to purchase shares of a company ahead of its acquisition by her husband's employer.

Denise Grevas, 60, of Evanston, pleaded guilty last year to a securities fraud charge after she admitted to illegally profiting from the purchase and sale of securities in a Washington state-based pharmaceutical company, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois.

The company was later acquired by an overseas pharmaceutical company that employed Grevas's husband, according to prosecutors.

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Grevas used non-public information about the expected acquisition to purchase shares in the Washington company ahead of a public announcement about the acquisition on Sept. 16, 2019, the statement said.

Following the announcement of the acquisition, the company's stock price increased and Grevas sold the shares for a $286,960 profit, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber sentenced Grevas to a year-and-a-day in prison and fined her $100,000.