REPORT: Alleged Insider Trading in NBTY Takeover

A management consultant firm based in Chicago was charged with insider trading for profiting from information on a takeover of NBTY, a Ronkonkoma-based vitamin company, according to a report by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Sherif Mityas, a partner and vice-president at a global management consulting firm has agreed to pay more than $78,000 to settle the SEC’s charges, according to the report.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, alleges that Mityas and others at his were retained by Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group to provide strategic advice related to the acquisition of NBTY Inc., the report said.

That same month, Mityas purchased NBTY stock and subsequently tipped a relative who also bought NBTY shares. After Carlyle publicly announced its acquisition of NBTY, Mityas and his relative sold their NBTY stock for a combined profit of nearly $38,000, according to the SEC.

To read the full SEC report, click here.

To read the official SEC complaint documents, click here.