Former investment banker from Naperville accused of securities fraud

A financial analyst and a west suburban former investment banker have been charged with securities fraud for profiting from trades they made based on non-public information.

Jason Napodano and Bilal Basrai, both 43, were each charged with one count of securities fraud in separate but related cases, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Napodano, a former managing director of a Chicago investment research firm, used “material, non-public information” he learned while conducting equity research about companies to buy stock in those companies, prosecutors said. He then sold that stock after his reports were released and the stock prices rose, netting a profit of about $143,000.

In what prosecutors are calling a related case, Basrai, a former managing director of a Chicago investment banking firm, also used non-public information to earn $37,157 from buying and selling stock in three companies. He is cooperating with the government’s investigation and plans to plead guilty to the charge against him.

Napodano’s scheme lasted from October 2012 to May 2015, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Basrai’s scheme spanned from January to July of 2014.

Arraignment dates have not yet been scheduled for Basrai, of Naperville, or Napodano, who lives in Waxhaw, North Carolina, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Each count of securities fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.