Expedia IT worker snooped on CFO emails, made illegal trades

SEATTLE – A former information technology worker at Expedia Inc. has pleaded guilty to allegations that he used his access to the computers of top executives to rummage through their email, then made lucrative illegal stock trades based on the inside information he discovered.

Prosecutors said Jonathan Ly made more than $330,000 from the trades he made with the information from 2013 to 2015. Ly pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday.

He worked for the Bellevue, Washington-based online travel giant, but was based in the San Francisco office of one of its brands, Hotwire.com. Prosecutors said he was given remote access to the computers of company employees so that he could address technology issues.

Among those whose electronic files he read were Expedia’s chief financial officer and head of investor relations.