Settlement with Former Deloitte Partner and Son in Insider Trading Case

The SEC alleged that defendant Thomas Flanagan, a former partner at accounting firm Deloitte and Touche LLP, traded while in the possession of advance earnings results and other nonpublic information from Deloitte’s audit engagements with Best Buy, Sears, and Walgreens as well as the firm’s consulting engagement with Motorola. He allegedly concealed his trading from Deloitte and also tipped his son, defendant Patrick Flanagan, who also traded on the basis of the nonpublic information, for combined illegal profits of nearly $500,000. In addition to the civil case, the SEC also brought an administrative action against Thomas Flanagan for numerous violations of auditor independence rules, and he was barred from practice before the Commission.