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Amazon Florida "4-Star" Store: Selection of the most popular products in the store
Photo: Meghan Mccarthy / imago images / ZUMA Wire
The shares of Amazon rose about 70 percent in 2020, the internet retailer is considered a big winner of the Corona closings.
However, a US family will probably no longer benefit from these and the most recent gains following the announcement of the Prime Day sales event on Monday.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the former finance manager who worked at Amazon and two of her family members with insider trading.
The accused had collected more than $ 1.4 million in illegal profits between January 2016 and July 2018, the agency said.
As an employee in Amazon's tax department, the defendant is said to have been entrusted with the preparation of the annual reports and passed on inside information.
Before the publication of the figures, which can cause large price movements on the stock exchange, her husband and his father are said to have played off the confidential information by buying or selling Amazon shares.
Million fine and six-digit interest demanded
The SEC suspects a case of "repeated and systematic" insider trading.
The agency is demanding $ 118,406 in interest and fines of $ 1.1 million in addition to the $ 1.4 million repayment.
In addition, the public prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings against the husband.
So far, no statements have been received from the defendants or from Amazon.
In the wake of the corona crisis, the Seattle-based company was able to increase its sales in the second quarter compared to the previous year by more than 40 percent - and roughly double its profit.
However, Prime Day was postponed earlier this year due to the pandemic.
Now the shopping event on October 13th and 14th is supposed to attract customers - and could start the seasonal business earlier for Christmas.
The internet company is investing 100 million dollars in advertising for Prime Day and holidays.
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apr / dpa