Ex-Samsung Manager Admits to Disclosing Confidential Information About iPad

At an insider-trading trial for Primary Global Research executive James Fleishman, ex-Samsung manager Suk-Joo Hwang admitted to jurors that he disclosed confidential information about the unreleased iPad to the accused, reports Bloomberg.

Hwang was granted immunity from prosecution by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff for his testimony in the case.


Hwang said that during lunch at a restaurant in Mountain View, California, with Fleishman and a hedge fund manager he identified as "Greg," he gave them confidential information about Samsung's shipment of liquid crystal display screens it was supplying to Apple. The iPad made its U.S. debut in April 2010, four months after the lunch.

"One particular thing I remember vividly was that I talked about the shipment numbers of Apple, it was about iPad," he said. "This is in December 2009, before it came out with the tablet PC, they didn't know the name then, so I talked to them about the tablet shipment estimates in that meeting."

Fleishman is pleading not guilty to two counts of conspiracy for facilitating the scheme in which company employees passed confidential information to fund manager clients of PGR.