Ex-Merrill Lynch broker booted from business

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday (May 3) that former Merrill Lynch broker Gary Yin has been permanently barred from the brokerage business.

Yin helped a customer, Jing Wang, a former senior vice president of Qualcomm, make insider trades in Qualcomm-related securities, and launder the loot in a shell company in the British Virgin Islands tax haven.

The case was tried by criminal authorities. Wang admitted to making $244,000 in insider trading profits and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Yin, sued by Wang, served no prison time, but was fined $5 million and ordered to pay $1.4 million to Merrill Lynch.