On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two former Wall Street investment bankers with fraud related to their trades in South Jersey Industries stock ahead of the company's acquisition announcement on February 24, 2022.
According to the complaint, the 59-year-old Mr. Satzky was a managing director in the energy and utilities investment banking group at a New York bank, while working on South Jersey business and serving as the lead banker on that deal. His 55-year-old friend and former colleague, Mr. Wulf, allegedly traded approximately 2.2 million shares, making a profit of $18.5 million when the stock rose about 40% on the news.
From November to December, Wulf Purchased 2.2 Million Shares
According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York under case number 1:26-cv-07132, the trades continued over the final two months of 2021 and cost at least $53 million. Infrastructure Investments Fund agreed to buy out South Jersey at $36 per share in a deal valued at $8.1 billion.
According to the SEC, the men repeatedly discussed the potential acquisition of the company, including during a nationally televised college basketball game they attended with their wives.
Wulf conducted the trades through eight firms that the agency named as relief defendants in the case, including Evergreen Capital, Evergreen Financial, Empire Property Management, and GAW Holdings. Evergreen manages the Wulf family's assets. Both he and Satzky moved from Credit Suisse to Bank of America in 2012.
Regulatory Scrutiny Prompted Internal BOA Investigation
The complaint alleges that the two men tried to conceal their actions and explains how the issue came to light. Following the announcement, the financial regulator prompted the bank to conduct an internal investigation into the South Jersey stock trading. Bank of America fired Satzky in March 2025.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan has been investigating the same deal since at least last spring, and no criminal charges have been filed to date. Satzky's attorney, Robert Anello, stated that his client "strongly denies the SEC's allegations" and did not provide Wulf with any material nonpublic information about the company.
Wulf's attorney, Reed Brodsky, stated that his client categorically denies the charges and claims that the Securities and Exchange Commission ignored testimony and evidence showing that Wulf purchased the stock based on his own "independent investment strategy."
The Case Fits Atkins' Increased Focus on Insider Trading
This is a case that the SEC, under the leadership of Paul Atkins, says it will continue to investigate, while stepping back from other matters. As Cryptopolitan reported this month, the agency's return to basics is aimed at combating insider trading, market manipulation, fiduciary duty violations, and accounting fraud, and a Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force was recently created within the enforcement division.
According to Cornerstone Research, enforcement actions have fallen by about 60 percent since Atkins took charge in April 2025, with financial penalties for crypto violations down to $142 million in 2025, less than 3 percent of the total from the previous year.
The charges against Satzky and Wulf fall under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The Securities and Exchange Commission seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer-and-director bars against both, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre-judgment interest from Wulf, and an injunction against Satzky based on his conduct.
