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The former Janus Henderson analyst, who used working from home as the cover of an insider trading and earned nearly £1 million, has been found guilty in one of the most famous UK insider trading cases in recent years.
Redinel Korfuzi, 38, was convicted of insider trading and money laundering along with her sister Oerta Korfuzi, 36, at the juj judge at London’s South Work Crown Court on Thursday after a four-month trial.
Personal trainer Rogerio de Aquino and his girlfriend Dema Almeziad were acquitted of the same charges.
The ju umpire was told that using information that Kolfuji had as an insider in his previous role in Janus Henderson, he would allow his co-conspirators to make profit by trading in stocks, including Daimler and JET2, allowing remote work as cover during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The brothers often traded in the company within 24 hours of Kolfuji getting inside information from the job, ju-deputies reported. The apartment in Marylebone, London, where Kolfuji lived with his sister and partner, was “the core of the business,” prosecutors said.
The defendant was charged with one count of insider trading between December 2019 and March 2021 and one count of money laundering between January 2019 and March 2021. The Financial Conduct Bureau released accusations of an investigation known as Operation Naples in January 2023.
Kolfuji and his sister looked straight as the verdict was read. The judge gave the ju judge a majority direction early on Thursday. That is, at least nine ju umpires had to agree to each verdict. After the two were released due to illness, only ten ju apprentices were seated in the case.
The panel was unanimous about insiders dealing with accusations against the pair, reaching a majority verdict of money laundering counts.
The maximum penalty for insider trading at the time the crime occurred was seven years’ imprisonment and 14 years of money laundering. Korfuzi’s brothers will be declared on July 4th.
“These are serious issues you were convicted of, and the sentence will reflect that,” his honorary judge Milne told the pair Thursday.
Redinel Korfuzi’s barrister declined to comment after the verdict. The pair’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The defendant was motivated by “greedy, plain and simple,” prosecutor Tom Forster KC acting for the FCA said in his closing speech this month. This was an “evidently a secret trade club” and “equipped” by the use of inside information, he told the ju judge.
De Aquino, 63, and Almeziad, 40, did not testify in the case. De Aquino told the FCA in an interview that Redinel Korfuzi was “hoodwinked”, but Almeziad said she was “deceived.”
Armeziad’s lawyer Roger Sahota said after the verdict: “This case should never have been brought in. There was no evidence that Ms. Armeziad had no knowledge of insider trading.
Redinel Korfuzi said in his testimony that the cash transferred to the bank account and safety deposit box was not “absolutely” linked to insider trading, but the money raised from a British client at his father’s Albanian construction company is “absolutely” not.
In a statement, Janus Henderson said he had fully cooperated with the FCA investigation. “Protection of confidential information is extremely important to Janus Henderson, and the company will treat actual or suspect misuse of confidential information with the greatest severity.”
