Litigation Releases (Jai Sondhi)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26542 / April 28, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jai Sondhi, No. 3:26-cv-01357 (N.D. Tex. filed Apr. 28, 2026)

SEC Files Settled Insider Trading Action Against Texas CPA and Former Internal Audit Head of Public Company

On April 28, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a settled action against Jai Sondhi, a licensed CPA in Texas and the former Senior Director of Internal Audit and Controls at Canoo, Inc., for allegedly engaging in insider trading.

According to the SEC's complaint, in June 2022, Sondhi learned during internal meetings that Canoo was on the verge of entering into a major contract with a prominent retailer for Canoo to sell the retailer thousands of electric vehicles. The complaint alleges that Sondhi purchased Canoo common stock and call options in late June and early July 2022, while aware of this material nonpublic information and despite Sondhi knowing that company policy prohibited him from doing so. As further alleged, on July 12, 2022, Canoo publicly announced the transaction with the retailer, and its stock price increased 53%, resulting in ill-gotten gains to Sondhi totaling $54,965.23.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, charges Sondhi with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Sondhi consented to the entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, in which he agreed to be permanently enjoined from violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and to pay disgorgement of $54,965.23, plus prejudgment interest of $15,969.28, and a civil penalty of $54,965.23.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Joseph Zambuto, Jr., and supervised by Charles J. Felker and Pei Y. Chung with the assistance of Kevin John Byrne, Christopher Carney and James Connor. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.