Nine accused of making $30 million by hacking into press releases before they went public

Crain's New York Business reports:

Nine people in the U.S. and Ukraine were charged Tuesday with making $30 million by hacking into business newswire services, reading corporate press releases before they came out, and then trading on that information ahead of the pack on Wall Street.

Federal authorities said it was the largest scheme of its kind ever prosecuted. In a measure of the scope of the alleged conspiracy, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought related civil charges against the nine plus 23 other individuals and companies.

The criminal charges were contained in two indictments unsealed in New Jersey and New York City.

The group consisted of two people described as Ukrainian computer hackers, six stock traders—all but one of them in the U.S.—and one U.S. real estate developer. They were charged with offenses including securities fraud, computer fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors said that for nearly three years starting in 2010, the hackers gained access to news releases that were about to be issued by Marketwired of Toronto; PR Newswire in New York; and Business Wire of San Francisco. The news releases contained earnings figures and other information from a multitude of companies.

Just a reminder for you rookie traders out there on what you are up against.