Former Merrill Lynch broker Timothy O’Connell is charged with illegal sharing of the information about large stock orders and intimidating his assistant who was called to testify before a grand jury.

Timothy O’Connell was arrested after the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn was launched on the improper transmission of information over the so-called «squawk boxes» - the brokerage firms’ internal communication systems.

Mr. O’Connell worked out of Merrill’s Garden City, N.Y., offices and is accused of forcing his former assistant to lie to federal investigators and a federal grand jury about how he allegedly shared information with two unidentified day-trading firms, according to the Wall Street Journal.

O’Connell pleaded not guilty and was released on a $500,000 bond. His lawyer declined to comment on the issue.