Men charged in insider trading related to taking Trump media group public, accused of making $22m

Three Florida men are accused of illegally making more than $22 million through insider trading before the announcement that Digital World Acquisition Corp. would take former President Donald Trump's media company public, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The investors, Bruce Garelick, 53; Michael Shvartzman, 52; and his brother Gerald Shvartsman, 45, signed non-disclosure agreements and were given confidential information about Digital World and another unnamed special purpose acquisition company.

Garelick invested in Digital World and was given a seat on the company's board of directors, where he learned sensitive information about plans to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social.

Garelick allegedly told the Shvartzmans about the information and bought millions of dollars in Digital World securities on the stock market before the announcement of the merger with Trump Media became public. 

The defendants also spoke about confidential information regarding Digital World to friends, neighbors and employees, prosecutors said. 

The men were arrested Thursday morning. They all face multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy, and each charge carries maximum prison sentences of five to 25 years behind bars.

Trump, his company and Digital World were not implicated in any way in the court documents.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.