A stock trader dubbed the Octopussy because he reached for so much inside information was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison by a judge who said a harsh punishment was necessary because insider trading is so difficult to detect. Zvi Goffer was convicted with two others in June in a conspiracy to pay bribes to coax confidential information from two lawyers at Ropes & Gray. “Insider trading is very, very hard to detect,” Southern District Judge Richard Sullivan said as he also ordered Mr. Goffer to pay more than $10 million in restitution. “Because of that, it has to be dealt with harshly. …These crimes are not going to be tolerated, certainly not in my courtroom.”
Mr. Goffer, 34, told the judge in a pre-sentencing letter that he now realizes he had warped perceptions of “survival of the fittest.” He said “everyone is doing it” is not a good excuse for doing wrong. Mr. Goffer was among more than two dozen people convicted in what prosecutors called the biggest hedge fund insider trading case in history. He began crying when he apologized to his brother, Emanuel, who was convicted at trial along with him and is awaiting sentencing. A third defendant, Michael Kimelman, also awaits sentencing.
