SEC charges Ontrak Chairman Terren Peizer with insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged Terren S. Peizer, Executive Chairman of the Santa Monica, California-based healthcare treatment company Ontrak Inc., with insider trading for selling more than $20M of Ontrak stock between May and August 2021 while in possession of material nonpublic negative information related to the company’s largest customer. "We allege that Mr. Peizer violated Rule 10b5-1 as it has existed for two decades by establishing and executing trading plans while aware of non-public information," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. "We allege that Mr. Peizer, armed with inside knowledge, avoided millions in losses that ordinary investors suffered. That’s insider trading, even when the trading is done through a 10b5-1 trading plan," said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, charges Peizer and Acuitas with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar for Peizer. In a parallel action, the U.S. Department of Justice also announced criminal charges against Peizer. Reference Link