Pandemic Profiteer: Former Pfizer Employee Amit Dagar Found Guilty of Insider Trading

An Indian American statistician who worked at the biopharmaceutical company Pfizer was found guilty of insider trading after a two-week trial in federal court in the Southern District of New York. Amit Dagar, 44, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, was convicted of using advance information on successful trial results for Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid to make trades. He was a senior statistical program lead for the Paxlovid drug trial, which began in July 2021 as part of the company’s efforts to address the global health pandemic. 

When he learned on Nov. 4, 2021, that the Paxlovid drug trial had produced positive results, he purchased short-dated, out-of-the-money Pfizer call options that expired days and weeks later. He also tipped a close friend, Atul Bhiwapukar, 45, of Milpitas, California, who also purchased short-term stock options. 

Following the publication of the positive results the next day, the company’s stock price increased substantially. In the following weeks, Dagar sold his Pfizer call options for profits of more than $270,000.

He was convicted of one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

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A parallel case was also filed against Dagar and Bhiwapurkar for violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 thereunder and seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York,  the trades also generated profits of $60,300 for Bhiwapukar, who pleaded guilty in October.

While the securities fraud convictions for Dagar and Bhiwapukar carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, ‘the deal Bhiwapukar made for his guilty plea has a guideline sentence of 10 to 16 months,” Inner City Press reported. His sentencing is set for Feb. 27.