US securities regulators announced insider trading charges on Thursday against a former Equifax manager who sold shares in the company before it disclosed a giant data breach. Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu, a product development manager at Equifax, allegedly netted more than $75,000 after placing orders on September 1, 2017 betting that Equifax shares would fall, according to a complaint by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Six days later, the company announced one of the biggest data breaches ever, sending shares sharply lower. Bonthu has also been charged in a parallel US criminal case by the Department of Justice, the SEC said.