By Sabela Ojea


U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Edward Markey (D., Mass.) are urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to open an investigation into some of UnitedHealth Group's executives in an alleged insider trading case.

Together with U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss (D., Mass.) and other members of the Congress, Warren and Markey on Monday sent a letter to the SEC's chair Gary Gensler after Bloomberg reported that UnitedHealth's Chairman Stephen Hemsley and three senior executives sold a combined $101.5 million in company shares after being informed that the healthcare and insurance company was being investigated by the Department of Justice.

The executives allegedly sold off millions in company stock in the four-month period prior of making public that the DOJ had launched a non-public antitrust investigation into the company, leading to a stock drop, the senators said.

"The timing of these trades… raises numerous questions," the lawmakers said. Violation of these laws may subject individuals to civil penalties 'three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided' and criminal penalties up to $5 million and 20 years imprisonment, the lawmakers added.


Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-30-24 1252ET