Rep. Christopher Collins Arrested for Insider Trading

Rep. Christopher Collins (R-NY) was arrested and indicted Wednesday for insider trading, according to reports.

NBC News’ Tom Winter says the lawmaker surrendered himself to the FBI this morning.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is scheduled to hold a press conference on the matter at noon. Collins and his son Cameron, along with Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s fiancee, were charged with insider trading in connection to “securities of an Australian biotechnology company,” Innate Immunotherapeutics.

ABC News’s Aaron Katersky reports that Collins’ alleged crime was a family affair. “Federal prosecutors said Collins tipped his son to the failure of a test drug for multiple sclerosis,” he writes. “When the results went public, shares of the Australian biotech company plummeted. Collins and his co-defendants made $768,000.”

“The defendants are accused of multiple counts of securities fraud, as well as one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count each of making false statements. [Rep. Collins] is expected to appear in federal court in lower Manhattan later today,” CNBC reports.

The New York lawmaker’s lawyers released the following statement: “We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name. It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated. Congressman Collins will have more to say on this issue later today.”

Collins, a three-term incumbent representing New York’s 27th congressional district, is facing re-election this fall.

Federal Election Commission filings state the lawmaker’s campaign has raised in excess of $1.34 million.