Reuters – U.S. regulators have obtained a court order freezing the assets of a Thailand-based trader, saying he reaped $3.2 million in illegal profits after getting a tip ahead of the announcement that a Chinese meat company was buying Smithfield Foods Inc.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday [June 6] that Badin Rungruangnavarat, 30, may have received the tip from a Facebook friend who once worked for Mr. Rungruangnavarat’s current employer. The agency said the friend is an associate director at a Thai investment bank that was advising a Shuanghui rival, Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, which was also exploring a bid for Smithfield.
