Executive is convicted of insider trading related to medical device firm acquisition

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An executive of a medical device company has been convicted in Minnesota of insider trading in a scheme that negotiated the takeover of the company valued at $1.6 billion, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Doron Tavlin was vice president of business development at Mazor Robotics’ Minneapolis office in 2018 when he learned the company could be purchased by Israel-based Medtronic, Inc., according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Tavlin illegally told this to a friend, Afshin Farahan, who bought more than $1 million worth of Mazor stock expecting the value to rise, prosecutors said. Mazor specializes in robotics for spine procedures.

“The morning after the acquisition was announced, Farahan immediately sold all of the stock he had purchased over the past few weeks, resulting in a combined gain of more than $500,000 for himself and another individual,” the statement said.

According to evidence presented at trial, the conspiracy included an agreement that Farahan would pay money to Tavlin in exchange for the non-public information about the takeover.

Last week, a federal jury convicted Tavlin, 68, of one count of conspiracy to commit insider trading and 10 counts of securities fraud and aiding and abetting securities fraud.

Farahan, 57, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to one count of insider trading conspiracy.

Sentencing hearings for both defendants were not immediately scheduled.

Another suspect was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit insider trading and securities fraud, prosecutors said.