U.S. Indicts Jordanian in Santa Fe Insider Trading

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a Jordanian oil industry consultant for taking part in a stock market insider trading scheme that was alleged to have brought him a profit of more than $4.6 million in three weeks.

Costandi Nasser was charged with trading in shares of Alhambra-based Santa Fe International Corp., a large oil and gas company, just weeks before the Oct. 5, 1981, announcement that it was being acquired for $2 billion by Kuwait Petroleum Co., the national oil company.

U.S. Atty. Rudolph Giuliani said that Nasser was tipped to the secret merger negotiations by Darius Keaton, a member of the Santa Fe International board, and was alleged to have purchased 30,400 Santa Fe shares and to have taken options on another 235,000 shares.

Keaton was indicted on insider trading charges in January. The indictment said he purchased 10,000 shares of Santa Fe through a Swiss bank account that he maintained under the alias Nadir Katir Mabrouck. Keaton’s case is pending.

Nasser was charged with conspiracy and fraud. He also was charged with perjury for denying to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he purchased Santa Fe shares. The 49-year-old Jordanian is believed to be living in Europe, officials said.