A CEO’s Road To Hell

It began with forbidden love and ended in felony charges for Comtech’s Ken Peterman

“Thus with a kiss I die.” ― William Shakespeare

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Another CEO has sealed his fate with a kiss.

Comtech, which provides a host of high-tech communications services, did not communicate the reasons why it dumped its CEO when it announced his termination in March.

Now we know. Comtech’s Ken Peterman, 67, had a sexual relationship with a subordinate and didn’t disclose it as required by the company.

We know this because last week federal prosecutors filed insider trading and securities fraud charges against Peterman and arrested him in San Diego. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed civil charges.

The indictment alleges that after Peterman learned of the lousy financial performance his company was about to release, compounded with the news of his firing, he began dumping stocks ahead of public announcements.

So much lost for so little

A kiss, a coverup, a firing, felony charges, and possibly a long prison sentence to come. What a slide down the jagged corporate ladder into the fiery abyss. Neither Comtech nor Peterman have commented on the complaints.

This is a guy who made more than $4.5 million in fiscal 2024. But the SEC alleges that he avoided only about $12,445 in losses by trading before the company’s March 18 earnings announcement.

Aren’t CEOs paid enough to find lovin’ somewhere else? (Illustration credit: AI Generated)

He also told his financial advisor to sell additional shares, but a trading blackout prevented the sale, the SEC complaint says. That unsuccessful scramble would have avoided about $110,000 in losses.

With numbers this small, Peterman’s case seems like a pretty aggressive prosecution given what so many other corporate ne’re-do-wells have gotten away with, but …