Agoura Hills Accountant's Pal Helped FBI Set Up Insider Trading Sting

It was a setup.

The FBI was shooting photos when Encino jeweler Bryan Shaw slipped his buddy, KPMG accountant Scott London, an envelope containing $5,000 in cash at a Valley Starbucks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The government alleges that London was providing stock tips and Shaw was profiting from insider trading. And the money was a payoff for providing information that London learned at his job.

Later, the Feds showed up at London's Agoura Hills home, saying, "You're subject to an investigation,'" London told the Times. "I felt about as bad as you could feel. It was as if everything I had earned and accomplished was gone."

And Wednesday, Shaw acknowledged his role in the insider trading. "I cannot begin to apologize for my incredibly stupid actions. There is no excuse for my wrongful conduct," he said in a statement.

• Agoura Hills Accountant at Center of Insider Trading Scandal

Shaw, of Shaw Diamond Co. in Encino, said he "profited substantially" from stock tips that London gave him.

"I expect that my actions will result in significant civil and criminal consequences, but I realize that this is the painful price I will pay for my transgressions," he told the Times.

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