Four Miami men were arrested Friday on charges of conspiring to make insider stock trades on a business acquired by one of South Florida’s major publicly held companies, MasTec, according to an indictment.
The four defendants shared confidential information within a close circle of family and friends, and they used it to buy shares at a lower price and then turn a $1 million profit after the information became public, the indictment says.
The four defendants — Federico Nannini, 26; Mauro Nannini, 63; Alejandro Thermiotis, 26; and Francisco Tonarely, 25 — are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and 24 related offenses. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a parallel civil lawsuit against them in Miami federal court.
All four men had their first appearances in Miami federal court on Friday afternoon.
According to the indictment and SEC case, here’s how the alleged scheme unfolded:
In June 2022, Federico Nannini, a consultant, began advising Coral Gables-based MasTec on its planned acquisition of Indiana-based Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives. MasTec, founded by the late Cuban exile Jorge Mas Canosa, is an engineering and construction company that provides infrastructure services for the energy, utility and communications industries.
At the time, both MasTec and Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives were traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Federico Nannini started sharing the confidential information with his father, Mauro Nannini, and close friend Thermiotis, according to the indictment. Federico Nannini, Thermiotis and Tonarely went to Gulliver Preparatory School together in Pinecrest.
Mauro Nannini bought shares in Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives the day after his son got access to the financial information about the proposed MasTec acquisition, the indictment says. Thermiotis also passed along the insider information about the deal to Tonarely.
In a text, Tonarely wrote Thermiotis: “I want to make some money right now. ... What [do] we do?”
After sharing the confidential information, Thermiotis texted him: “Not a soul okay.”
Tonarely responded: “Obviously. ... You told me not to.”
Days later, a member of Tonarely’s family signed a letter sponsoring Thermiotis’ membership at a Miami yacht club, prosecutors noted in a news release.
As the MasTec acquisition progressed, Federico Nannini continued to update his father and close friend, Thermiotis, about the deal. In turn, Thermiotis continued to share the insider information with Tonarely, prosecutors said.
In July 2022, Federico Nannini started worrying that the acquisition would fall through and confided in his father. Mauro Nannini sold his stock in Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, the indictment says.
But when Federico Nannini saw confidential financial paperwork saying the deal was happening after all, he texted his friend, Thermiotis: “It’s going thru. ... Holy s--- bro.”
Thermiotis’ response: “Don’t text. ... But lfg.” Lfg means “let’s f---ing go.”
With that encouraging insider information, Mauro Nannini began to buy back his position in Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, according to the indictment.
Toward the end of July, when MasTec’s acquisition of Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives was publicly announced, Mauro Nannini, Thermiotis and Tonarely sold their shares and options in the Indiana company for a profit, according to the indictment.
A couple of days later, on July 27, 2022, Federico Nannini texted Thermiotis a picture of a Rolex Daytona with the message: “You wanna hook it up for the boy. I know it’s a little over budget but this is the one.”
Thermiotis responded: “Haahaha yeah but give it a bit. ... Prices should come down a bit on everything.”
The criminal case, investigated by the FBI, is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Young, Eli Rubin and Alexandra Comolli.
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