A Pleasanton man was recently sentenced to prison time for his participation in a scheme to commit insider trading based on material, non-public information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered Srinivasa Kakkera, 48, to serve 18 months in prison on Jan. 3, according to a press release from the office of Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
According to a 2022 complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Kakkera worked as the head of engineering and artificial intelligence at a publicly traded computer software company in San Jose and conspired with two other men in the scheme while also tipping off family and friends.
Federal authorities said Kakkera will have to forfeit just under $2.5 million for the trading of information about impending corporate transactions by Lumentum Holdings Inc., a telecommunications equipment commercial company based in San Jose.
Kakkera was also sentenced alongside Abbas Saeedi, a 48-year-old man from Fremont who was also involved in the trading scheme. Saeedi was sentenced to five months and will have to forfeit just over $690,000.
“Srinivasa Kakkera and Abbas Saeedi traded on valuable material, non-public information about Lumentum’s planned acquisitions, knowing that their friend had stolen this information from his employer, Lumentum,” Williams stated in the press release. “Kakkera and Saeedi used their informational advantage to make millions in combined illegal gains in the stock market. But insider trading is not easy money: if you try to illegally profit from material, non-public information, there’s a price to be paid.”
The friend Williams was referring to was Amit Bhardwaj, a third co-defendant from San Ramon who was employed by Lumentum.
Bhardwaj was the one who provided the material, non-public information from the company, according to authorities. Bhardwaj was previously sentenced to 24 months in prison and was issued a fine of $975,000.
According to the indictment and the statements made in the public court proceedings, back in December 2020 Bhardwaj learned that Lumentum was considering the acquisition of Santa Clara-based Coherent, Inc., a industrial, communications, electronics and instrumentation manufacturer.
Bhardwaj purchased Coherent stock and call options before tipping off three of his associates, one of whom was Saeedi, according to the DOJ press release.
Then, around October 2021, Bhardwaj learned that Lumentum was engaged in confidential acquisition discussions with Neophotonics Corporation, another company that manufactured and sold electronic devices. Lumentum ended up acquiring Neophotonics in November 2021, but not Coherent.
Bhardwaj provided information on the potential Neophotonics acquisition at the time to Kakkera and Saeedi who both traded in Neophotonics securities. Kakkera’s friends and family also purchased securities because of the information he learned.
As a result of the Neophotonics acquisition in 2021, the company’s stock price substantially increased and Kakkera along with Saeedi closed their positions in Neophotonics securities, which resulted in Kakkera making over $2,453,687.99 and Saeedi making $691,104.73, according to the DOJ.
However, the FBI soon interviewed them and they were all served with federal grand jury subpoenas in March 2022 and were later arrested. Bhardwaj, Kakkera and Saeedi then took steps to “obstruct the federal investigation of their conduct” by meeting in person on several occasions and discussing potential false stories to cover up their insider trading scheme, according to federal prosecutors.
The press release stated that they also created false documents to “buttress lies regarding payments that were, in reality, related to the insider trading scheme.”
— Christian Trujano
In other news
* Police arrested a 39-year-old Livermore man last week after he was allegedly found trespassing near the football field at Granada High School.A school resource officer assigned to Granada responded to the area on Jan. 11 at which time the suspect ran off campus, department officials said in a statement about the arrest on social media. Other Livermore police officers located the man — later identified as George Michael Tomlin — in the creek area behind the campus.
A records check revealed Tomlin is a registered sex offender. A preliminary investigation suggests he committed a lewd act on school grounds, according to police. He is also suspected of inappropriately exposing himself to a female student on campus.
Additionally, police allegedly located drugs and drug paraphernalia on him.
At this time, police said they do not believe that the suspect had any physical contact with students.
The man was arrested without incident and taken to Santa Rita Jail. He is facing several charges including unlawful entry onto school grounds by a registered sex offender, indecent exposure and drug possession.
Anyone with information that may help police investigate this case can call LPD’s anonymous tip line at 925-371-4790.
— Cierra Bailey
* A 24-year-old Dublin woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after hitting and injuring a man with her vehicle earlier this month, according to the Mountain View Police Department.
Mountain View dispatchers received a call around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 2, reporting a two-car collision at San Antonio Road and Central Expressway. When officers arrived on the scene, they found an injured 24-year-old East Palo Alto man, according to the statement.
During their investigation, police learned that the suspect had allegedly deliberately collided into the victim’s car while they were driving on the road, causing his car to crash. The woman and man knew each other and had been previously involved in a relationship, police said.
When the man got out of his car to inspect the damage, the woman allegedly accelerated her car and struck him and his vehicle again. She then drove away but returned when officers were investigating the site of the crash, police said.
Police conducted a traffic stop and detained the woman, identified as Alexis McBride. She was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, hit and run and corporal injury to a spouse or co-inhabitant, police said.
The man was taken to a local hospital to treat his injuries.
McBride was booked into Santa Clara County jail and was being held without bail.
— Emily Margaretten, Mountain View Voice
* Two East Bay men and one from Elk Grove have been indicted by a federal grand jury for alleged insurance fraud related to the collapse of a Livermore insurance company.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced Dec. 19 it charged Jasbir Thandi, Sandeep Sahota and Jaspreet Padda with insurance fraud crimes related to the collapse of Global Hawk Risk Retention Group.
The indictment says 67-year-old Thandi, of El Sobrante, was the president and treasurer of Global Hawk and, between 2017 and 2019, he allegedly misappropriated over $19 million in Global Hawk funds. That included sending more than $1 million to an entity domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, and over $7 million to other outside entities controlled by Thandi, prosecutors allege.
The indictment also alleges Thandi, 47-year-old Sahota, of Concord, and 40-year-old Padda, of Elk Grove, submitted false and fraudulent financial statements to insurance regulators that overstated Global Hawk’s assets by tens of millions of dollars and concealed the misappropriations.
Sahota was Global Hawk’s vice president and secretary and Padda was the company’s outside investment advisor.
Global Hawk’s primary business was providing automobile liability insurance coverage for truck drivers and small trucking companies. In May 2020, after regulators discovered the misappropriation, Global Hawk was declared insolvent and was liquidated by a court order.
The indictment charges Thandi, Sahota, and Padda with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and two counts of insurance fraud.
Thandi was also charged with two counts of insurance fraud and two counts of bank fraud.
The indictment alleges in 2016, Thandi obtained a $6.4 million bank loan based on false representations and in 2017, obtained another $14.75 million bank loan, also based on false representations.
The conspiracy count has a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Each insurance fraud count has a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Each bank fraud count has a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.
Sahota and Padda were arrested Dec. 18.
Anyone who thinks they may be a victim in this case should contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California’s victim specialists by email at USACAN.DCVictimAsst@usdoj.gov.
— Tony Hicks, BCN
Pleasanton police vehicle, other car involved in injury collision at intersection near downtownJanuary 17, 2026 8:21 pm