Schultz “Jason” Chan, former director of biostatistics at Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA), was sentenced to three years in prison following his conviction for insider trading. Chan was convicted of providing material non-public information about Akebia to former Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MACK) employee Songjiang Wang. Wang was also convicted of insider trading based on providing material non-public information about Merrimack to Chan; Wang is set to be sentenced on November 13, 2018.
This case highlights the fact that jail time is an available penalty for violations of the insider trading laws in addition to possible monetary penalties and administrative sanctions.