UK Man Hacked Executives’ Emails for Illegal Trades, US Says (1)

A British man was charged by US prosecutors with hacking corporate executives’ email accounts to obtain confidential earnings information.

Robert B. Westbook made more than $3 million trading on the hacked information ahead of public announcements, according to an indictment unsealed Friday by New Jersey federal prosecutors. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a parallel lawsuit.

Westbrook, 38, was arrested in the UK earlier this week pending a potential transfer to the US to face securities, wire and computer fraud charges, prosecutors said. In an initial appearance Thursday in a UK court, Westbrook didn’t consent to extradition and was ...