Imprisoned: Mohammed Zina received a 22-month sentence
A former Goldman Sachs analyst has been jailed for almost two years after using a Tesco Bank loan to fund insider trading.
Mohammed Zina, 35, received a 22-month sentence after being found guilty earlier this week on six counts of insider trading and three counts of fraud.
His business was partly funded by three loans he had fraudulently obtained from Tesco Bank, totaling £95,000.
Zina had applied for the loans claiming she wanted to use the money to make improvements to the house.
Sentencing at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, Judge Tony Baumgartner said Zina’s crime had “struck at the heart of the financial markets” and was a betrayal of her employer’s trust. The judge said that Zina otherwise appeared to be of good character, “one might even say exemplary.”
But he said the defendant had engaged in “deliberate” misconduct that required “planning and sophistication” and involved deception.
Zina was convicted on all charges on Thursday. The city’s watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said the verdict sent a “clear message” to fraudsters.
As part of Goldman Sachs’ dispute resolution group, Zina had inside information about potential mergers and acquisitions that the bank was advising on.
He traded shares using this information between July 2016 and December 2017, making a profit of £140,486.
Among the stocks he traded were chip company Arm Holdings, pub group Punch Taverns, specialist bank Shawbrook and US snack maker Snyder’s-Lance.
The defendant’s brother, Suhail Zina, 36, a former Clifford Chance lawyer, was acquitted after fraud charges were dropped and there was insufficient evidence on insider trading charges.
The FCA’s Steve Smart said earlier in the week: ‘Mohammed Zina attempted to mislead the market for his personal benefit by cynically trading inside information.
“This conviction sends a clear message that economic crime is on our radar and that we will take action to defend the integrity of the UK markets.”
- Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon earned £25 million ($31 million) in 2023, his second-largest pay package since taking over in 2018, despite a drop in profits. The gains came even though the bank cut its workforce and was hit by a slowdown in investment banking activity.