Former U.S. Rep. Buyer arrested, charged with insider trading

SEC, federal prosecutors say Buyer schemed, cashed in big for himself, family, romantic acquaintance with info gleaned from consulting work. Plus, local delegation on Day 1 of post-Roe special session

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STEVE BUYER, LAFAYETTE’S FORMER CONGRESSMAN, ARRESTED AND CHARGED FOR INSIDER TRADING

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer was arrested and charged in federal court Monday, accused of using confidential information to buy more than $1.5 million in stock in two companies about to be sold, making six-figure profits in short order for accounts held by family members and someone he was romantically involved with, all while trying to cover his tracks.

Buyer, who as a Monticello Republican served parts of Indiana in Congress from 1993 to 2011, faces four criminal counts of securities fraud and demands from the SEC to “disgorge” himself and others of cash after racking up profits of $335,729 in stock purchases and sales in 2018 and 2019 he made with inside information pulled from his work as a consultant.

Steve Buyer (File photo)

The criminal indictments, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, name Buyer for actions taken well after he’d left Congress as the representative for the 4th District, which includes Lafayette and West Lafayette. The SEC complaint, filed in the same court, names Buyer and his wife, Joni Buyer, though the court documents say the SEC doesn’t allege she “engaged in any legal wrongdoing.”

Attempts Monday to reach Buyer, 63 and now living in Noblesville, were not immediately successful.

The SEC complaint claims that when the federal agency issued a subpoena, “Buyer invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to testify about, among other things, his trading in the securities.”