FBI raids La Quinta home, man accused of insider trading

A man from Westlake Village is behind bars on insider trading charges after federal agents raided his home in La Quinta Wednesday morning.

Steven Fishoff, 58, is accused of being the mastermind of an intricate scheme that generated $3.2 million in profits over several years. The raid took place at Fishoff’s home in the Hideaway development on Via Savona Way.

Prosecutors said Fishoff and three associates received non-public information through their relationships with publicly traded companies. They’re accused of using a group of investment companies, which they owned or controlled, to trade on the information.

Also charged in the case and arrested at their homes Wednesday were: Ronald Chermin, 66, of Oak Park in Ventura County; Steven Costantin, 54, of Farmingale, New Jersey; and Paul Petrello, 53, of Boca Raton, Florida, federal officials said.

“The defendants and their associates were entrusted with confidential, non-public information about companies, and, time and time again, they allegedly violated that trust by illegally trading the companies’ stock for substantial profits,” said Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the New Jersey District, which brought the case.

`They allegedly rigged the game so they would always win, and their profits came at the expense of legitimate investors, who were not privy to this inside information,” Fishman said.

The alleged scheme dates back to 2012, according to federal prosecutors.

Fishoff was scheduled to make his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Riverside on four counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

The conspiracy count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison and the securities fraud violations each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 will follow the developments in court and we’ll have updated information as soon as it’s available.