A 39-year-old Long Island investment adviser is in hot water and could lose his license after allegedly trading on an insider tip on a $3.6 billion pharmaceutical deal — info that netted him a whopping $8,824.
The adviser, Tibor Klein, got the tip from his drunk lawyer pal Robert M. Schulman who, after a few too many cocktails, blurted out during an August 2010 dinner, “It would be nice to be King for a day,” according to a complaint filed Friday by regulators.
The lawyer’s firm worked for King Pharmaceuticals, which two months later agreed to be bought by Pfizer for $3.6 billion.
“Schulman intended to imply he was a ‘big shot’ who knew ‘some kind of information’ about King Pharmaceuticals,” the Securities and Exchange Commission said in its complaint.
On Aug. 16, the first day the market opened after his dinner meeting with Schulman, Klein bought 800 shares of King for himself and 59,800 for his clients, including 3,000 shares for Schulman, according to the SEC.
The broker continued to buy more King stock through Sept. 15, it is alleged. Those were his “most significant” purchases of a single stock that year, court papers maintain.
The Melville, N.Y., broker also passed the tip to his best friend and high school buddy, Michael Shechtman, of Lake Worth, Fla., who bought 2,500 shares of King for himself and another 2,400 for his wife’s retirement account — plus 300 call options, the SEC claims.
It was the first time Shechtman had ever bought options, the SEC said.
Pfizer and King had entered into a confidentiality agreement to discuss Pfizer’s possible acquisition of King on July 9 of that year, according to the complaint.
The deal was announced in October 2010 and King shares shot up 39 percent.
Overall, more than $400,000 in illegal gains were made from the tip.
Klein pocketed just $8,824, the SEC said — while 46 clients of his Klein Financial Services brokerage firm made $319,550, or about $7,000 apiece.
Shechtman, also 39, netted illegal gains of $109,049 for him and his wife, according to the SEC.
Schulman, who was not charged, was one of Klein’s clients who profited from the insider trading. He made $15,500 through a managed account.
When asked Friday by The Post if he was cooperating with the SEC, Schulman — who has also taught patent law at Georgetown University, according to his firm’s web site — declined to comment.
Shechtman liquidated the options account that day and sold the stock on Oct. 15.
He left his employer Ameriprise in 2012.
Shechtman and Klein admitted talking to each other about the trades, the SEC complaint said. Neither could be reached for comment.