Silicon Valley Auditor Settles Lam Merger Insider Case

A Silicon Valley auditor agreed March 14 to pay approximately $87,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations he traded on inside merger information (In re Hedayati, S.E.C., Admin. Proc. File No. 3-17881, 3/14/17).

Nima Hedayati was a junior accountant at Lam Research Corp.'s outside auditor, the SEC said. He allegedly learned through his job that Lam was planning to acquire KLA-Tencor Corp., another semiconductor company. Based on the inside information, Hedayati bought KLA stock options and encouraged his mother to buy KLA stock as well, the SEC said.

Hedayati and his mother earned more than $43,000 in ...