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Bothell man sentenced for illegally trading Amazon stock

By The Associated Press

Close-up of sign with logo on facade of the regional headquarters of ecommerce company Amazon in the Silicon Valley town of Sunnyvale, California, October 28, 2018. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images, File)

By The Associated Press

BOTHELL, Wash. — A 37-year-old Bothell, Washington man was sentenced Thursday to 26 months in prison for illegally trading Amazon stock, according to federal prosecutors.

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Viky Bohra pleaded guilty in November 2020 securities fraud, said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman. Bohra admitted he used Amazon inside information to trade Amazon stock between 2016 and 2018, making a profit of $1.4 million.

The information came from his wife, an Amazon finance employee, Gorman said. She had confidential information about Amazon revenue and expenses. Because of that work, they were subject to blackout periods when no stock could be traded. Despite that restriction, Bohra conducted trades during blackout periods.

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“This defendant and his wife were earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and bonuses from their jobs in tech – but he was not content with that – greedily scheming to illegally profit by trading Amazon stock,” Gorman said in a press release. “This case should stand as a warning to those who try to game the markets with insider trading: there is a heavy price to pay with a felony conviction and prison sentence.”

As part of the plea agreement, Bohra’s wife will not face criminal charges. Bohra’s wife is no longer employed at Amazon.









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