The indictment is precise about the money and vague about the companies. Justin Jennings, a 27-year-old from Rockaway Township, is accused of turning more than $2.7 million in illicit profits by trading on secrets lifted from his girlfriend’s work laptop, and federal prosecutors in Newark have spelled out the mechanics in detail. The names of most of the eight companies he allegedly traded around, however, are left out of the public record.
Jennings, a former professional soccer player who briefly turned out in Latvia’s second tier, faces a securities fraud scheme count, eight insider trading charges and two counts covering criminal proceeds. The alleged trading ran from February 2022 to October 2024, ahead of major corporate announcements.
Under the hood, the scheme was simple. Prosecutors say Jennings was romantically involved with an account executive who was entrusted with material nonpublic information at the public-relations firm where she worked. While the two were together, he allegedly opened draft press releases on her employer-issued laptop without her knowledge and used what he read to load up on options before the news broke, cashing out within hours.
The detail that matters is the pace of the returns. In July 2023, after reading an unreleased earnings miss, he put roughly $105,000 into bets that a company’s stock would fall; when it did the next morning, he pocketed a $985,000 profit. A buyout of a truck-stop chain had already cleared him about $859,000, a takeover the following year added $374,550, and an electric-vehicle charging deal brought in another $356,000, prosecutors said.
Jennings has denied the allegations. His lawyers say the evidence will vindicate him and his company, Vortex Strategies LLC, which the Securities and Exchange Commission is also suing in a parallel civil case. If convicted on the top count, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
As ever, the public record names only one of the eight companies, Apollo Global Management, leaving the rest to surface as the case proceeds.
Sources
- Rockaway Man Indicted in Alleged $2.7M Insider Trading Scheme
- Ex-pro soccer player raked in $2.7M trading on secrets pilfered from girlfriend's laptop, feds allege
