Husband of former Amazon.com finance manager pleads guilty to insider trading

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - The husband of a former Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> finance manager who leaked confidential information about the online retailer's financial performance pleaded guilty on Thursday to an insider trading charge, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Prosecutors said Viky Bohra, 36, of Bothell, Washington, pleaded guilty to securities fraud, admitting that from 2015 to 2018 he used tips provided by his wife Laksha to make $1.43 million (£1.09 million) of illegal profit trading Amazon stock.

Authorities said Laksha Bohra had taken advantage of her job as a senior manager in Amazon's tax department to provide the tips, despite repeated warnings against leaking confidential information.

Viky Bohra then used the tips to make successful trades ahead of Amazon earnings announcements, through accounts tied to him and his father Gotham Bohra, authorities said.

A lawyer for Viky Bohra had no immediate comment.

Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that Viky Bohra serve no more than 33 months in prison, and agreed that Laksha Bohra will not face criminal charges.

Viky Bohra faces a Feb. 8, 2021 sentencing before U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle, where Amazon is based.

The Bohras settled related U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges in September by agreeing to forfeit trading profits and pay a combined $1.11 million in fines.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)