Former director of Tesla Australia sentenced for insider trading

(Reuters) -A former director of Tesla Inc’s Australian unit was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment and will be released immediately on the condition of “good behaviour”, Australia’s corporate watchdog said on Tuesday.

The sentence follows the former director’s guilty pleas to two insider trading offences tied to a supply deal the electric-car maker signed with Piedmont Lithium Inc in 2020, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

ASIC said Kurt Schlosser purchased 86,478 shares in U.S.-based Piedmont in two transactions after being informed of details of a five-year spodumene concentrate supply agreement.

Schlosser sold the shares for a realised profit of $28,883.53 after the agreement became public, according to the watchdog.

The regulator added that Schlosser communicated information to a friend “in circumstances where it was likely” that the person would acquire Piedmont shares.

Last November, Schlosser pled guilty at a court in Sydney.

“We do not comment on the legal proceedings of individuals or other companies,” Piedmont said, while Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)