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A former head of Tesla's Australian arm has pleaded guilty to insider trading of ASX shares.
Sydney Downing Centre local court on Tuesday heard Kurt Schlosser plead guilty to one count of trading while in possession of inside information and one count of communicating inside information to an associate.
The offences related to Schlosser's knowledge back in September 2020 that Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) had signed an in-principle agreement with Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL) to supply the car maker with lithium.
The court heard the country director of Tesla Australia bought 86,478 shares in Piedmont on 16 September 2020 before the deal was revealed publicly.
After the supply agreement was announced to the market, Schlosser sold his stocks for a profit of $28,883.53.
The director also told the inside information about the Piedmont deal to a friend on 16 September 2020, knowing that the acquaintance would likely buy shares in the miner.
Each breach carried a maximum penalty of 15 years of imprisonment at the time of the offences.
Schlosser will appear on 16 December in the Sydney District Court for sentencing.
