Michael Lucarelli was arrested today. He was a director at Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates Inc., an investor relations firm based in Manhattan.
Authorities say Lucarelli made the illegal trades using information from the working drafts of press releases his company prepared for its clients.
Prosecutors say he violated his company's policies and his responsibility to clients when he traded ahead of public announcements about various companies' earnings. Authorities say Lucarelli carried out his insider trading scheme from at least August 2013 through this month.