Goldman Ex-Programmer Set for April Code-Theft Trial
Summary
Sergey Aleynikov, a former programmer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. whose federal conviction for stealing the bank’s high-speed trading code was thrown out on appeal, will go on trial April 1 on related charges in New York state court, his lawyer said. Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel today declined to reconsider his decision to allow prosecutors to use statements the programmer made at FBI headquarters on the night of his arrest in July 2009, Aleynikov’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, said in an e-mail. Zweibel in June ruled Aleynikov’s arrest was illegal and threw out seized physical evidence, including computer hardware carrying the allegedly stolen code. Aleynikov’s story was recounted by author Michael Lewis in Vanity Fair and became the foundation for his book “Flash Boys,” which argues that high-speed traders, exchanges and broker-dealers have rigged the stock market. McSwain also mistakenly concluded that Aleynikov had violated the Economic Espionage Act, which applies to products made specifically for use in interstate or foreign commerce such as manufactured goods, Zweibel said.