Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim announced the arrest of Christopher Worrall, a federal employee at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He is one of four individuals charged with participating in a scheme to convert United States property, to defraud the United States, and to commit securities fraud and wire fraud for obtaining material nonpublic information from CMS and using it to execute profitable trades at Investment Adviser-A.
According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, David Blaszczak, a political intelligence consultant, and Theodore Huber and Robert Olan, two partners and analysts at a healthcare-focused hedge fund in New York, New York (“Investment Adviser-A”) were arrested along with Worrall.
The charges state that Blaszczak is charged with obtaining confidential and nonpublic information from CMS employees, including his friend, Worrall, who worked at CMS, and who is charged with breaching his duties as a CMS employee by providing confidential information to Blaszczak.
Blaszczak then is alleged to have provided this material nonpublic information in advance of market-moving CMS announcements to employees at Investment Adviser-A. As a result of these trades, Investment Adviser-A reaped more than $3,500,000 in profits.
According to data from FedsDataCenter.com, Worrall’s annual salary at CMS is $145,162 based on FY 2016 data.
The allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
A copy of the complaint document from the United States District Court Southern District of New York is included below.