What did Shawn Cronin do? Charges explored as Dighton police chief arrested for insider trading

Shawn Cronin, the 43-year-old former chief of Dighton Police, has been put on administrative leave after he was charged with insider trading. As per reports by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Cronin turned himself in to the Massachusetts office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday, June 29, 2023.

Cronin has been accused of benefiting from an insider trading plan that he hatched with Joseph Dupont and Jarett Mendoza, who are childhood friends, along with multiple other individuals.

The plan involved the accused benefiting from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s acquisition of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The information was provided by Dupont, who was a Vice President at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Shawn Cronin has been charged with several financial crimes and had his initial appearance before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Thursday.

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Joseph Dupont obtained insider information regarding the acquisition and shared it with childhood friend Shawn Cronin

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has revealed that Joseph Dupont obtained information about Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s acquisition of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. before it was publicly announced. He shared this information with Shawn Cronin in April 2020. Apart from being childhood friends, Cronin was also Dupont’s supervisor when the latter served as a reserve officer.

Acting on Dupont’s tip, Shawn Cronin acquired shares of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including out-of-the-money call options, as per reports by authorities. Cronin also passed along information regarding the benefits that could be derived from the imminent acquisition to two individuals and Slava Kaplan.

Jarett Mendoza is another childhood friend of Cronin and Dupont. As per the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cronin also allegedly assisted Mendoza in buying Portola stock prior to the announcement of the acquisition. Kaplan is a friend of Cronin’s who Dupont is also acquainted with. Cronin allegedly shared information with Kaplan so the latter could assist the former in creating trading plans to make the most amount of profit.

In a statement regarding the offense, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that these men illegally gained trading profits.

“Cronin, Kaplan, Feldman “and their tippees sold their shares of Portola and call options for Portola stock, reaping millions of dollars of illegally obtained trading profits.”

As per the U.S. Attorney’s office, Shawn Cronin has been charged with three counts of securities fraud under Title 15 and three counts of tender offer fraud; one count of securities fraud under Title 18; and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and tender offer fraud. It is projected that Cronin individually profited to the tune of $72,000, and the total profits made through the scheme could be to the tune of $2.2 million.

Shawn Cronin has been released on an unsecured bond that is valued at $250,000. District Judge Justice Gregory H. Woods will preside over his next hearing before the District Court of the Southern District of New York.