Girlfriend of investment banker cashed in on insider trading, court hears (From Sutton Guardian)

Cheam Chiropractor Dr Jessica Mang made £60k using insider information from investment banker boyfriend, court hears

10:00am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in News By James Pepper

A girlfriend of a German investment banker cashed in on inside information to make £60,000, a court heard.

Dr Jessica Mang, who runs the Cheam Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Centre, is accused of insider dealing after writing in her diary that her boyfriend, Thomas Ammann, had told her she could profit from what he was doing at work, a jury heard.

Southwark Crown Court heard how the banker gave confidential information to two girlfriends to make more than £1m through insider share dealing in 2009.

Thomas Ammann, 39, worked on a multi-billion pound takeover of Océ, a Dutch printing and copying group, by the Japanese electronics company Canon.

He approached his girlfriends, who did not know about one another, about investing on his and their behalf, the court heard. Ammann was one of only seven bankers at the London branch of Mizuho International investment bank who knew about the deal before it was announced.

Both Miss Mang, and his other girlfriend Christina Weckwerth, a wealthy divorcee from Ammann's native Germany, deny the charges which he has already admitted to.

The court heard how Miss Mang met the banker at a nightclub and used credit cards and borrowed money from her family to make £30,000, it was alleged.

In diary entries dating from October 2009, Miss Mang wrote that she was "embarrassed" that she only had £30,000 to invest, the jury heard.

She wrote: "I'd feel a little like I pay him for his companionship. I do worry he doesn’t trust me."

She was warned by her flatmate, a Goldman Sachs employee, that she was engaging in insider dealing, but said the warnings were "prissy", the court heard.

Amanda Pinto QC, prosecuting on behalf of the Financial Services Authority, said: "These two women managed to almost double their money by trading in one stock.

"Each of these women considered that Ammann was their boyfriend. They had no idea of the existence of the other. Weckwerth got back nearly £2m and Mang, who was trading at a very, very much lower level, made £60,000."

The case continues.....