A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer has been accused of stealing secret trading codes from the financial firm.
Sergey Aleynikov (39) was arrested by the FBI on Friday and charged with "theft of trade secrets.”
He met the terms of his $750,000 bail and was released on bail last night, said FBI spokesman James Margolin.
Mr Aleynikov is accused of misusing computer codes that belong to his former employer, a New York-based financial institution that authorities did not identify in court papers but sources say is Goldman Sachs.
A transcript of Aleynikov's appearance before US Magistrate Kevin Nathaniel Fox in Manhattan on Saturday also shows that Mr Aleynikov worked for Goldman.
His lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said at that proceeding that Mr Aleynikov told authorities after his arrest that he did not intend to sell the information or use it "contrary to my employment agreement with Goldman Sachs.”
Goldman has not seen its business or clients harmed by the purported computer breach, a source familiar with the situation said yesterday. The firm declined to comment.
The case could shed light on the workings of intricate trading systems developed by Goldman. It also raises questions about the security of lucrative Wall Street proprietary trading operations.
However, the New York Stock Exchange said today there was no connection between the alleged security breach and an error that dropped Goldman from a trading report the NYSE issued last week.
Mr Aleynikov, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey, was arrested on Friday night as he got off a flight at Newark Liberty International Airport, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
Mr Aleynikov had been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Terms of his bail required a $750,000 personal recognizance bond to be secured by three financially responsible people.
His bail also included $75,000 in cash, and Mr Aleynikov was ordered to surrender his travel documents and not to access the computer data at issue in the case.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 3rd.
Reuters