Ex-Janus Henderson analyst found guilty of insider dealing in UK

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - A former Janus Henderson analyst was on Thursday found guilty of using confidential information on companies including Daimler, Jet2 and THG to make nearly 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) after a London court trial.

Redinel Korfuzi, 38, was accused of using information he accessed through his job as a research analyst at the asset manager to trade using accounts held by his sister Oerta Korfuzi, 36, and two other co-defendants.

The siblings stood trial at Southwark Crown Court with Redinel Korfuzi's personal trainer Rogerio de Aquino, 63, and de Aquino's partner Dema Almeziad, 40, who prosecutors said were "secret proxies" for the insider trading.

The four were each charged with conspiracy to commit insider dealing and money laundering between January 2019 and March 2021, with prosecutors alleging they used lockdown restrictions imposed from March 2020 to carry out the criminal trades.

Redinel and Oerta Korfuzi were each convicted of both charges by a jury, having pleaded not guilty. They will be sentenced on July 4.

The jury cleared de Aquino and Almeziad of both charges. Almeziad's lawyer Roger Sahota said in a statement: "This case should never have been brought.

"There was no evidence that Ms Almeziad knew anything about insider dealing and it is wrong to expect ordinary people to understand or spot complex financial conduct that even professionals struggle with."

Prosecutor Tom Forster told jurors at the start of the trial in February that the defendants made a profit of around 963,000 pounds in relation to 11 companies' shares in just over six months.

Forster said Redinel Korfuzi "was at the absolute centre" of the alleged conspiracy, which was directed from the London flat he shared with his sister.

Janus Henderson, which manages roughly $380 billion in assets, was not involved in the criminal case or accused of any wrongdoing.

A spokesperson for the firm said in a statement: "The protection of confidential information is extremely important to Janus Henderson and the firm treats any actual or suspected misuse of confidential information with the utmost seriousness."

The Financial Conduct Authority previously said Janus Henderson had cooperated fully with its investigation.

Convictions for insider trading carry a sentence of up to seven years, with up to 14 years for money laundering.