Market Manipulation. Search

SEC v. David A. Zimliki and Russel P. Schiefer (insider trading, 2018)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 3, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In May 2018 the SEC charged two Pennsylvania men with trading Golden Enterprises shares before its merger with Utz, and both settled. David Zimliki's profit was $9,319 and Russell Schiefer's $5,877, and the settlement terms are disgorgement with interest and penalties equal to each profit.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency SEC
Release number LR-24134
Date filed 2018-05-04
Date resolved 2018-05-04
Court U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
Status settled
Asset class equities
Criminal parallel No
Defendants David A. Zimliki (individual) ; Russel P. Schiefer (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques Insider trading

What was ordered

Civil penalty
$15.2k
Disgorgement
$15.2k
Prejudgment interest
—
Total relief
$30.4k
Alleged gain
$15.2k

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The SEC alleged that Zimliki learned of the planned merger from a close friend, bought shares and tipped Schiefer, who also bought. They sold after the announcement. Both consented to injunctions, disgorgement plus interest and penalties equal to their profits. The stored figures are the combined profits ($15,196) and the matching penalties; interest is not itemised in the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2018-05-04 Litigation release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Trijya Vakil and Neeraj Visen (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-09-04 Insider Trading $109k settled
CFTC v. Gabriel Perez (insider trading, 2026) CFTC 2026-08-28 Insider Trading $65k judgment
SEC v. Gavin Wolfe and others (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-21 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Jesse R. Mitchell (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-21 Insider Trading — filed
SEBI v. Arun Kumar Somani and others (insider trading review, Indian Oil Corporation, 2026) SEBI (India) 2026-08-13 Insider Trading — dismissed
SEC v. Benjamin Tesfaye (insider trading, 2026) SEC 2026-08-11 Insider Trading $18.7k settled

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.