Authorities arrest a relative of the King of Jordan and 3 others for $1M insider-trading plot
MIAMI — Authorities have charged four men, including a relative of Jordan’s king, with orchestrating an insider trade in a company acquired by one of South Florida’s largest publicly traded companies, MasTec.
Federico Nannini, 26; his father, Mauro Nannini, 63; and two of his friends, Alejandro Thermiotis, 26; and Francisco Tonarely, 25, were arrested Friday and charged in a federal indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and 24 related offenses, This was reported by the Miami Herald.
Thermiotis is a relative of the King of Jordan. Thermiotis’ brother, Jameel, married King Abdulla’s daughter, Princess Iman, last year. The Jordanian royal palace did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the four defendants shared confidential information within a small circle of family and friends. They used the information to buy stock at a lower price and then made a $1 million profit after the information became public.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a parallel civil lawsuit against them in federal court in Miami. All four made their initial court appearances Friday.
According to federal authorities, the alleged scheme began in June 2022, when Federico Nannini, a consultant, began advising MasTec on its planned acquisition of Indiana-based Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives.
MasTec is an engineering and construction firm based in Coral Gables, Florida, providing infrastructure services to the energy, utilities and communications industries.
Federico Nannini then began sharing the confidential information with his father, Mauro Nannini, and Thermiotis, a close friend, the indictment says. Federico Nannini, Thermiotis and Tonarely attended Gulliver Preparatory School together in Pinecrest, Florida, a suburban town in Miami-Dade County.
Mauro Nannini bought shares in Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives the day after his son gained access to financial information about the proposed takeover of MasTec, the indictment said.
Thermiotis also provided Tonarely with insider information about the deal.
As the MasTec acquisition progressed, Federico Nannini continued to keep his father and close friend, Thermiotis, informed of the deal. In turn, Thermiotis continued to share insider information with Tonarely, prosecutors said.
When Federico Nannini became concerned in July 2022 that the takeover would not go through, Mauro Nannini sold his IEA shares, the indictment said.
When Federico Nannini received confidential financial information indicating that the takeover was going ahead, he sent a text message to Thermiotis, who responded.
At that point, Mauro Nannini began buying back his position in IEA stock and options, the indictment said.
When the acquisition of IEA by MasTec was made public on July 25, 2022, Mauro Nannini, Thermiotis and Tonarely all sold their shares and option contracts in IEA at a profit.
A conviction for conspiracy to commit securities fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while a conviction on the 24 counts of securities fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 to 25 years.