One brother fined $113K, financial penalties waived for a second
brother
Gilroy – Former Gilroy City Councilman Anthony “Tony” Sudol has settled charges that he helped his two brothers earn illegal stock profits by tipping them off about technology mergers.
Sudol, who used to work as an advance man on corporate mergers for Cisco Systems, a San Jose-based networking company, was ordered to pay $150,000 in civil penalties to settle the insider trading charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2005.
The U.S. Court for the Northern District of California ordered his brother Michael Sudol to pay $113,500, but waived the entire $203,000 civil penalty for Richard Sudol, his other brother, based on an assessment of his financial situation. The court also waived $139,000 in penalties against Tony Sudol.
Reached Tuesday afternoon for comment, Sudol commented that he had “nothing to say. I’m moving on.”
Sudol and his brothers did not admit or deny wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which bars them from denying the factual allegations of the case.
According to the SEC complaint, Tony Sudol learned of Cisco’s acquisitions in various managerial roles overseeing the integration of newly acquired businesses into the company’s physical space and operations. The SEC alleged that he informed one or both of his brothers about five acquisitions between 1999 and 2003. The complaint alleged that Michael Sudol purchased stock in five companies just prior to public acquisition announcements by Cisco, and Richard Sudol traded under similar circumstances in the stock of four. The trades earned the brothers more than $400,000.
The insider trading charges were filed one year ago, just as Tony Sudol re-emerged into Gilroy’s public sphere for the first time since leaving council in 2001. This time, he is shepherding an effort to redevelop the defunct Indian Motorcycle plant off 10th Street. The project already has strong support among some council members, who are anxious to see the site converted to an active use that could complement a revitalized downtown. But others remain concerned about the effect 200 new townhouses and condominiums will have on schools and traffic.
The project is expected to go before planning commissioners in coming months.
Sudol has said previously that he has no ownership stake in the project.
