A former executive vice president at Chicago-based cannabis company Verano was indicted in federal court for insider trading, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday. Anthony Marsico, 39, is alleged to have used non-public information about Verano’s agreement to purchase a competing cannabis firm to purchase more than 900,000 shares of the rival company’s stock and sharing the information with a friend, who in turn shared the information with two others.
Arthur Pizzello, 61, Robert Quattrocchi, 63, and Timothy Carey, 57, are also named in the indictment, which describes the defendants as “social friends” who played golf together at a private country club.
Marsico is accused in the indictment of illegally profiting from the scheme in excess of $607,000. Marsico is accused of tipping off Pizzello about the non-public takeover deal, who in turn shared the information with Quattrocchi and Carey. According to the indictment, the charges concern a deal between Verano and an unnamed company from January 2022.
The indictment was returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago and charges all four with conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Marsico is also charged with six individual counts of securities fraud. Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.