Former Expedia Employee Faces Insider Trading Charges

BELLEVUE, WA - A former Expedia worker pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Seattle to securities fraud charges after he allegedly infiltrated executive emails to gain information to make stock trades, according to the Seattle U.S. Attorney's Office.

Jonathan Ly, 28, worked as a senior IT tech between 2013 and 2015 at the San Francisco office of Expedia-owned Hotwire.com. Because of the nature of his job, Ly had remote access to executives' electronic devices, including the CFO and head of investor relations. He allegedly infiltrated those devices to glean information that he could use to make advantageous trades of Expedia stock.

Those trades netted Ly $331,000, the federal government said.

Expedia, which is based in Bellevue, detected Ly's intrusions into executive devices, but, the FBI said, Ly was able to cover his digital tracks. It was only after a forensic investigation by the FBI thast Ly was revealed as the perpetrator, the agency said.

Ly is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 28 and could face up to 25 years in prison. Ly would also have to pay about $80,000 to Expedia to reimburse the company for investigation costs.

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