Police Chief and Pfizer Employee Among Those Charged in Insider Trading Schemes

Dighton, Massachusetts police chief Shawn Cronin has been charged with insider trading by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with several others, for collectively making over $2.2 million in illegal profits. Cronin allegedly engaged in an insider trading scheme involving the acquisition of one pharmaceutical company by another, receiving insider information from a childhood friend who was a vice president at Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Cronin purchased stocks and options based on this information and shared it with friends, who also invested. Cronin has been charged with securities and tender offer fraud and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.