Ex-Goldman Analyst Denies Insider Trading Allegations at Trial

An ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst and his City lawyer brother denied allegations of insider trading and fraud at their London trial.

Mohammed Zina, who worked in the investment bank’s Conflicts Resolution Group in London, denied making trades based on insider information, his lawyer Brendan Kelly told the jury on Tuesday.

The jury must decide whether Mohammed Zina would have traded the shares regardless of his position at Goldman, Kelly said.

Mohammed Zina and his brother Suhail Zina, who was a lawyer at Clifford Chance, are on trial for insider dealing between July 2016 and December 2017 reaping around £140,000 in profit. They are also accused of using bank loans for home improvements for the trades.

They are accused of placing the trades in ARM Holdings Plc, Alternative Networks Plc and Punch Taverns Plc among others.

Suhail didn’t have access to the alleged insider information and didn’t trade, his lawyer said in court. He only agreed to his brother’s request to use his account or signed where asked, his lawyer Allison Clare said.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges of insider trading and fraud. The trial is expected to continue until February next year.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Upmanyu Trivedi in London at utrivedi2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jeremy Hodges at jhodges17@bloomberg.net

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