Former Deloitte partner and son pay $1.1M to settle insider-trading charges brought by SEC

Fmr. Deloitte exec settles insider-trading charge

WASHINGTON — A Chicago-based accountant has settled civil charges that he traded stocks of companies he was auditing while he was a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that Thomas Flanagan and his son, Patrick Flanagan, made $487,000 by trading on information that was not yet public. Thomas Flanagan had access to the information because the companies were Deloitte clients. They included Best Buy Co. Inc., Sears Holding Corp., Walgreen Co., Motorola Inc. and others.

The pair is paying a total of $1.1 million to settle the charges. People charged with insider trading typically settle by paying an amount equal to twice their illegal profits.

The settlement bars Thomas Flanagan from serving as an accountant for public companies. Neither Flanagan admitted nor denied guilt.