The co-owner of Leeds United has been accused of alleged insider trading and federal securities laws violations as part of two lawsuits. The allegations are denied by the 49ers Enterprises.
Jed York is the CEO of San Francisco 49 years and is alleged to have sold 20,000 shares in the online educational company, despite allegedly knowing that it had helped college attendees cheat on exams, according to the lawsuits. Allegedly, York and other directors of the California-based firm concealed the company’s role in this alleged fraud.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the 43-year-old businessman made a profit of some £1.1million ($1.4m) from the sales of the stock in Santa Clara company in what the lawsuit claims was“at artificially inflated prices”. It is claimed that York was aware of the alleged misconduct of the company, which saw its profits soar during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, as in-person examinations resumed as restrictions eased, those profits soon plummeted and the company soon saw its share price drop considerably. Mr York is accused of having sold his shares prior to this drop in the firm’s revenues.
The lawsuits state that “York engaged in insider sales before the fraud was exposed,” adding: “As a trusted member of the board, he conducted little, if any, oversight of Chegg’s engagement in … the cheating misconduct.”
In a statement released by 49 years spokesperson Brian Brokaw, they said: “The 49ers are proud of the work we accomplished with Chegg to provide scholarships for first-generation students”. They also issued a response via email, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying: “The recent securities-related lawsuits against Chegg, and in certain cases (its) board of directors, are without merit and Chegg is vigorously defending itself.
“Chegg takes academic integrity very seriously and has invested significant resources to protect it. Chegg has been helping millions of students learn and thrive for many years, including during the pandemic, creating a transformative digital learning platform to improve outcomes.”
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