Executives at health-care companies Celgene Corp. (CELG), Sanofi (SAN) and Stryker Corp. (SYK) were among six people charged for their alleged roles in an insider-trading ring that prosecutors said generated $1.4 million in illicit profit. John Lazorchak, 42, director of financial reporting at Summit, New Jersey-based Celgene, was at the center of the network and regularly tipped others to nonpublic information on acquisitions, quarterly earnings results and regulatory news, Paul Fishman, the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, said in a statement. Those charged include Mark Cupo, 51, an executive at Sanofi and Lazorchak’s former boss, and Mark Foldy, 42, a marketing executive at Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker Corp. and high school classmate of Lazorchak. Prosecutors also charged Lawrence Grum, 48, and Michael Castelli, 48, who made hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit and tipped friends and family, according to Fishman. “Three of the defendants exploited their access to sensitive, confidential information at two New Jersey-based pharmaceutical companies and a prominent medical technology company,” Fishman said.
