Former Bancorp RI board member charged

PROVIDENCE – The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged a former Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. board member with inside trading, alleging he tipped off three acquaintances about the bank’s potential acquisition with Brookline Bancorp Inc. in 2011.
Anthony F. Andrade, of Rehoboth, is charged with inside trading and is suspected of giving information that resulted in three acquaintances collectively profiting more than $80,000, according to a federal complaint filed in Providence.
Andrade said he didn’t know about the complaint until receiving a call from Providence Business News, adding that he knew there had been an investigation.
“To the best of my knowledge I’ve done nothing wrong, but I’ll let the authorities do their job and see where it goes,” Andrade told PBN. “You never know where people assume things. I was a member of the bank there for a long time and did a lot of good things. Let’s hope that this turns out to be nothing.”
The SEC alleges that prior to Brookline Bank’s acquisition of Bank Rhode Island, “weeks of confidential negotiations” happened within Bank Rhode Island’s management team and its board of directors, which included Andrade.
The SEC alleges Andrade, during this time, illegally tipped off his friends and business associates Robert Kielbasa of Portsmouth, Fred Goldwyn of Wilmington, Del., and Kenneth Rampino of Seekonk.
The tip allowed the trio to profit when Bank Rhode Island’s stock price rose after the acquisition was announced on April 20, 2011. Bank Rhode Island’s stock increased $13.29 per share – or 43 percent – from the prior day’s closing price ending the day at $44 per share, according to the complaint.
The SEC is seeking that the four offenders pay back their gains with interest and pay civil penalty fees up to three times their profit. The complaint also seeks to bar Andrade from serving as an officer or director of a public company, according to the complaint.
Two of the traders have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges.
Kielbasa and Goldwyn have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges to the tune of $84,625 and $50,301, respectively. The settlement allows the duo to consent without admitting guilt or denying allegations, according to the complaint.
Andrade in fiscal 2010 received $22,239 serving on Bank Rhode Island’s board of directors, according to its last proxy statement.

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