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A former analyst from Janus Henderson has been found guilty of insider trading, disguising it as remote work, and making nearly £1 million in profit in one of the UK’s most notable insider trading cases recently.
Redinel Korfuzi, aged 38, was convicted of insider trading and money laundering along with his sister, Oerta Korfuzi, aged 36, by a jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Thursday after a trial lasting four months.
Personal trainer Rogerio de Aquino and his girlfriend Dema Almeziad were acquitted of the same allegations.
According to the jury, Korfuzi exploited confidential information from his former position at Janus Henderson to enable his partners to trade stocks like Daimler and Jet2, all while working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic as a cover-up.
The siblings frequently engaged in trading within a day of Korfuzi acquiring insider information, as presented to the jury. Their London flat in Marylebone was identified as the “heart of the operation,” the prosecution stated.
The defendants faced one count of insider dealing from December 2019 to March 2021, and one count of money laundering between January 2019 and March 2021. The charges were revealed by the Financial Conduct Authority during an investigation known as Operation Naples in January 2023.
Both Korfuzi and his sister remained stoic as the verdicts were announced. Earlier on Thursday, the judge instructed the jury to reach a majority decision, requiring that at least nine of the jurors agree on each verdict. Only ten jurors participated in the trial after two were excused due to health reasons.
The jury found the pair unanimously guilty of insider trading and reached a majority decision on the money laundering charges.
At the time of the offences, the maximum sentence for insider trading was seven years in prison, while money laundering carried a maximum of 14 years. The sentencing for the Korfuzi siblings is scheduled for July 4.
“These are serious charges, and your sentences will reflect that,” expressed His Honour Judge Milne to the two on Thursday.
A lawyer representing Redinel Korfuzi opted not to comment after the verdict, and the solicitors for both parties did not respond immediately to requests for remarks.
Prosecutor Tom Forster KC, representing the FCA, stated in his closing argument that the defendants were driven by “greed, plain and simple.” He described the operation as a “secret trading club” that manipulated trading using insider information.
De Aquino, aged 63, and Almeziad, aged 40, chose not to testify. De Aquino mentioned in an interview that he felt “fooled” by Redinel Korfuzi, while Almeziad claimed she was “misled.”
Almeziad’s attorney, Roger Sahota, remarked post-verdict: “This case should never have been pursued. There was no proof that Ms. Almeziad was aware of any insider trading, and it’s unreasonable to expect average individuals to understand complex financial practices that even experts find challenging.”
Redinel Korfuzi insisted during his testimony that the cash moved into bank accounts and safety deposit boxes was “absolutely not” connected to insider trading, but rather money collected from UK clients of his father’s construction business in Albania.
Janus Henderson released a statement confirming their full cooperation with the FCA investigation, asserting that “the protection of confidential information is of utmost importance to Janus Henderson, and the firm regards any actual or suspected misuse of such information with the highest level of seriousness.”
