The Department of Justice and the SEC on Friday announced charges against a British national for hacking into the systems of five US companies.
The man, Robert Westbrook, 39, of London, was arrested in the UK and is awaiting extradition to the US to face computer, securities, and wire fraud charges.
According to court documents, between January 2019 and May 2020, Westbrook hacked into the email accounts of corporate executives at five US companies, by resetting their passwords.
He used the unauthorized access to obtain material nonpublic information about the businesses’ earnings announcements and used the information to purchase securities that he then sold in short order to generate substantial profits.
Westbrook allegedly implemented auto-forwarding rules so that content from the executives’ compromised email accounts would be automatically sent to email accounts he controlled.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Westbrook profited from the hacks on at least 14 occasions, making approximately $3.75 million trading in advance of the victim organizations’ public earnings announcements.
The complaint also alleges that Westbrook attempted to conceal his identity by using VPN services, resorting to anonymous email accounts, and utilizing bitcoin.
“The complaint seeks a final judgment ordering Westbrook to pay civil penalties, ordering him to return his ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and enjoining him from committing future violations of the charged provisions of the federal securities laws,” the SEC announced.
If found guilty, Westbrook could be sentenced to many years in prison and ordered to pay millions in fines and retribution.
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