GOP lawmaker Chris Collins arrested, charged with insider trading

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., turned himself in to authorities at his lawyers’ office in Manhattan early Wednesday, according to NBC News.

Collins is accused of multiple counts of securities fraud, making false statements, wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud by federal prosecutors. He faces similar charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency announced in a statement.

“Congressman Collins cheated our market and our justice system in two ways,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, a Trump appointee, said at a news conference Wednesday, per CNN. “First, he tipped his son to confidential corporate information at the expense of regular investors. And then he lied about it to law enforcement to cover it up.”

Collins pleaded not guilty in a federal court Wednesday afternoon, paid a $500,000 personal recognizance bond, and surrendered his passport, CBS News reported.

Jonathan Barr and Jonathan New, attorneys representing Collins, said they would “answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name.”

“It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated,” they added in the statement.

Two Republican lawmakers told the Hill last year that Collins had urged other members of Congress to invest in Australia-based pharmaceutical company Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, of which he was the largest stockholder, and then bragged about how much money he had made them. Collins was on the board and invested at least $6 million in the firm.

“If you get in early, you’ll make a big profit,” Collins reportedly told a group of House Republicans. House ethics investigators had been investigating Collins for his role in the alleged insider trading.

He also had urged Tom Price, the former Health and Human Services secretary and fellow House lawmaker, to purchase the company’s stock. Price made more than $225,000 from Innate, and was later fired as head of HHS for using government-paid charter jets for travel rather than flying commercial.

Innate was working on a drug to treat multiple sclerosis, a disease that weakens the immune system and eats away at a person’s nerves.

The lawmaker’s son Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins’ fiancee, were also charged. They too have pleaded not guilty and have been released on bond.

The indictment says that Collins passed information about the drug trial results to his son, who used the information to make timely trades and to share tips with others, including his soon-to-be father-in-law. The trades allowed them to avoid $786,000 in losses, according to the indictment.

It is unclear how Collins’ legal predicament will effect his upcoming reelection race. However, in an email to supporters Wednesday afternoon, he indicated he still intended to run for his congressional district in western New York near Buffalo in November.

“As I fight to clear my name, rest assured that I will continue to work hard for the people of the 27th Congressional District of New York while remaining on the ballot for reelection this November,” he wrote.

The trio’s next court date is Oct. 11.

[Opinion: The indictment of Chris Collins is another stain on Trump’s reputation]

Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.