Moffat allegedly provided insider information when IBM was considering acquiring Sun Microsystems to Danielle Chiesi, a portfolio manager at New York-based New Castle Funds. Chiesi allegedly made trades on behalf of New Castle Funds based on the tips and generated about US$1 million in illegal profits.

The SEC also filed charges in the case against Raj Rajaratnam, a portfolio manager with hedge fund Galleon Group, who gained close to $25 million in illegal profit. Chiesi and Rajaratnam allegedly committed securities fraud jointly, according to the SEC. Both of them tapped into a network of high-ranking corporate executives and insiders to obtain confidential details about quarterly earnings and takeover activity.

The SEC also charged other technology executives including Rajiv Goel, who was Intel treasury's managing director of investments. Goel last month pled guilty in association with the case.