Former Biopharma Statistical Programmer Sentenced for Insider Trading

BOSTON – An employee of a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for engaging in an insider trading scheme.

Songjiang Wang, 54, of Westford, the Director of Statistical Programming at a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to six months in prison and one year of supervised release. Judge Talwani also ordered Wang to pay a $50,000 fine and scheduled a forfeiture and restitution hearing in the matter for Nov. 30, 2018. In July 2018, a federal jury convicted Wang of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two count of securities fraud. Co-defendant Schultz “Jason” Chan, 54, of Newton, the Director of Biostatistics at a different biopharmaceutical company, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and three counts of securities fraud. On Nov. 5, 2018, he was sentenced to three years in prison and one year of supervised release.

From August 2013 to September 2015, Wang and Chan, who were friends, conspired to commit securities fraud by trading insider information regarding successful clinical drug trials at their respective companies. Specifically, Wang traded on inside information Chan provided regarding a clinical study conducted by Chan’s employer. In addition, over a period of several months, Wang tipped Chan of clinical trial results for a drug being developed by his employer. Furthermore, Wang gave Chan cash, which Chan used to purchase stock shares of Wang’s employer. Chan subsequently sold those shares and paid back Wang.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement today. The United States Attorney’s Office received valuable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Kriss Basil, also of the Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.