Ishan Wahi, a former Coinbase product manager accused of insider trading has pleaded not guilty.
Wahi was charged with wire fraud committed while working at the crypto exchange Coinbase.
The Justice Department and The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) separately charged Wahi with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with an insider trading scheme.
The SEC allege that Wahi had shared Coinbase listing announcements in advance to his brother Nikhil Wahi and friend Sameer Ramani.
Nikhil and Ramani then allegedly took that insider knowledge to trade before announcements went live and gained over $1.1 million in profits.
The Wahi brothers and Ramani also allegedly “took numerous steps to evade detection from law enforcement” by moving their cryptocurrencies across multiple different Ethereum wallets and even wallets held in others’ names, according to the indictment.
While the Wahi brothers have been arrested, Ramani’s whereabouts are unknown.
