Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Ford and Geely Explore Strategic Manufacturing Partnership in Europe 
Missouri Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Starbucks’ Diversity and Inclusion Policies 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Nvidia, ByteDance, and the U.S.-China AI Chip Standoff Over H200 Exports 
TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans 
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment 
CK Hutchison Unit Launches Arbitration Against Panama Over Port Concessions Ruling 
Uber Ordered to Pay $8.5 Million in Bellwether Sexual Assault Lawsuit 
Rio Tinto Shares Hit Record High After Ending Glencore Merger Talks 
Anthropic Eyes $350 Billion Valuation as AI Funding and Share Sale Accelerate 
CK Hutchison Launches Arbitration After Panama Court Revokes Canal Port Licences 
Australian Scandium Project Backed by Richard Friedland Poised to Support U.S. Critical Minerals Stockpile 
Once Upon a Farm Raises Nearly $198 Million in IPO, Valued at Over $724 Million 
Sony Q3 Profit Jumps on Gaming and Image Sensors, Full-Year Outlook Raised 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
Amazon Stock Rebounds After Earnings as $200B Capex Plan Sparks AI Spending Debate 
A SpaceX engineer reportedly pleaded guilty of conspiracy to perpetrate securities fraud through selling insider information on the dark web. This is said to be the first case that was brought to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission involving violations in the deep web sphere.
About Elon Musk’s employees’ case
Reuters reported that the SpaceX’s engineers’ guilty plea was revealed by both the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC on Thursday, March 18. The accused has been identified as James Roland Jones of Redondo Beach, California, and with the development in his case, he is facing a five-year imprisonment term in federal jail.
This is said to be the maximum penalty that Jones could get in his guilty plea. However, the official sentencing for the litigation has not been set yet.
The DOJ and the SEC disclosed that from the year 2016 until 2017, the SpaceX engineer conspired with someone whose identity was not revealed. The said person accesses different dark web marketplaces to look for material and confidential information that he can use for his own securities trading business.
Based on the report, Jones also concocted a plan to sell what he said were insider tips on the dark web though it appears that the info was actually false. He has been earning in this scheme as some people are purchasing the tips using bitcoin.
At any rate, the dark web is a part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible through the use of special software. It allows users and website operators to access the internet anonymously, and they couldn’t be traced either. This is usually used to host websites engaged in illegal activities.
Is SpaceX involved in the case?
It is not clear if Jones is currently working in SpaceX or he was already terminated. Moreover, the justice department did not reveal if the illegal trading was done while he was working for Elon Musk’s company or not.
It turned out that the FBI has been investigating his criminal case since 2017, and this led to the DOJ’s charges against him. But then again, despite his link to SpaceX, the SEC did not mention the company in Jone’s case. Meanwhile, the exchange commission, the DOJ, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC when asked for comments.
