SEC v. Sean Stewart et al. (insider trading, 2017)
Judgment entered
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.
In September 2017 the SEC announced a final judgment against Robert K. Stewart, a former technology company CFO and CPA accused with his son Sean of serial insider trading through coded emails. Disgorgement of $153,676 and interest were deemed satisfied by criminal forfeiture. The claims against Sean Stewart remained pending.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | LR-23948 |
| Date filed | 2017-09-28 |
| Date resolved | 2017-09-28 |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York |
| Status | judgment |
| Criminal parallel | Yes: sentenced (Sean Stewart (convicted at trial, sentenced to three years); Robert Stewart pleaded guilty), U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York |
| Bars imposed | officer-and-director bar |
| Defendants | Sean Stewart ; Robert K. Stewart |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Exchange Act s.14(e) and Rule 14e-3 |
| Techniques | Insider trading |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- $154k
- Prejudgment interest
- $11.2k
- Total relief
- $165k
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
The judgment, entered September 27, 2017, enjoins Robert Stewart, holds him liable for disgorgement of $153,675.65 plus $11,240.76 interest, satisfied by the forfeiture order in the parallel criminal case, and imposes a lifetime officer-and-director bar and a suspension from appearing before the SEC as an accountant. He pleaded guilty in the criminal case.
Sean Stewart was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to three years in prison; his conviction was on appeal and the SEC's civil action against him was pending.
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.
- Insider trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
- 2017-09-28 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.
Same matter
The library links these 4 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.
| Date filed | Agency | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-08-18 | SEC | SEC v. Sean Stewart (insider trading, 2016) | Settled |
| 2017-09-28 | SEC | SEC v. Sean Stewart et al. (insider trading, 2017) | Judgment entered |
| 2019-09-26 | SEC | SEC v. Sean Stewart, et al. (insider trading, 2019) | Settled |
| 2020-08-13 | SEC | SEC v. Sean R. Stewart et al. (insider trading, 2020) | Judgment entered |
Related actions
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 |