Ex-Lumentum Executive Pleads Guilty to Trading on Merger Plans

A former Lumentum Holdings Inc. executive faces prison after pleading guilty to trading on and sharing with friends and family secret information about the company’s merger plans.

Amit Bhardwaj, 51, admitted Wednesday that he bought Coherent Inc. stock and call options in late 2020 based on Lumentum’s plans to acquire the company. Bhardwaj also tipped a close relative and two friends who traded on the information, collectively making $900,000 in profits.

Bhardwaj, who was Lumentum’s chief information security officer, also admitted he passed confidential information about merger discussions with NeoPhotonics Corp. to three other people in 2021. Prosecutors said the ...