Consultant charged in scheme to trade US secrets for profit

NEW YORK – A Washington consultant is among five people charged in a scheme to convert government secrets into hedge fund profits.

Prosecutors say secrets came from an employee of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court charges consultant David Blaszczak with conspiracy, securities fraud and other crimes.

Also charged is former CMS employee Christopher Worrall, who prosecutors say worked in the director’s office as a special assistant when the leaks occurred.

A Worrall lawyer declined to comment. A lawyer for Blaszczak didn’t immediately return a message.

The indictment says Blaszczak and others used “deceit, craft, trickery and dishonest means” to defraud the United States from 2011 through 2013 by obtaining confidential information from CMS. It says Blaszczak then disclosed the information to hedge funds.