Boca Brokers Cop Plea in Late-Trading Case

A pair of Boca Raton-based brokers entered guilty pleas for charges of conspiring to execute after-hours trades in what prosecutors have dubbed the first federal indictment of late mutual fund orders placed on behalf of institutional investors, Associated Press reports.
Federal prosecutors accused Kautilya "Tony" Sharma, who owns Geek Securities and Geek Advisors, and Neal Wadhwa, a VP at Geek Advisors and a broker at Geek Securities, of intentionally falsifying records to cover up mutual fund trades made after 4 p.m.
In a plea bargain with prosecutors this week, Sharma conceded to raking in $1.3 million from activities connected to late-trading schemes. In a separate agreement, Wadhwa acknowledged generating $140,000 of profit in the same after-hours trading scheme.
Under the terms of a deal forged with prosecutors, Sharma is expected to serve at least seven years in prison on charges carrying a maximum 10-year sentence. He will be sentenced on Oct. 15 before U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra. Wadhwa, who has not conceded to a deal with prosecutors, is expected to serve at least 21 months on charges carrying a maximum five-year prison term.