Moral Philosophy in the Work Place
According to an article in The New York Times, Winifred Jiau, an expert network
consultant at Primary Global Research, was convicted for insider trading on June 20, 2011
(Ahmed and Lattman). Her unethical decision to engage in insider trading landed her an
arrest and jail time. She was “convicted of selling technology company secrets to hedge
fund traders” and now faces up to 25 years in prison (Ahmed and Lattman). Ms. Jiau was
able to get hold of confidential information from different companies by befriending
individuals in public firms and exploiting them for information. The company she worked
for has also been under “heavy scrutiny” and this is because there has been at least seven
other individuals connected to the firm that have been charged with crimes that are related
to insider trading. During the trial, a witness by the name of Noah Freeman testified
against Mr. Jiau. He admitted to receiving confidential information from her (Ahmed and
Lattman). On September 21, 2011, Ms. Jiau was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the term insider trading
“includes both legal and illegal conduct” (“Insider Trading”). The legal version is when
corporate employees on all levels buy and sell stock in their own companies. However,
when an employee engages in such behavior, he or she must report their trades to the SEC.
On the other hand, the illegal side of insider trading “refers generally to buying or selling a
security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in
