Sutardja and Dia are not without controversy themselves. In 2008, Marvell Technology paid a $10 million fine to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that the company backdated the options it paid out to its executives. As part of the settlement, Dai, who was once Marvell's chief operating officer, paid a personal fine of $500,000 and was bared from being a director or officer of a publicly traded company for five years.
That was the same year the couple's Goldman troubles began. At a Goldman broker's suggestion, Sutardja and Dai bought shares in another technology company Nvidia (NVDA) in mid-2008, using a margin account in which their sizable holding of Marvell shares had been pledged as collateral. The couple quickly amassed a large position in Nvidia's shares. A Goldman analyst had recently begun recommending the technology company. However, according to the couple's suit, at the same time Goldman was telling Sutardja and Dai and other clients to buy Nvidia, Goldman was selling its own stake, slashing the company's investment in the technology firm by 60%.
Shortly after Sutardja and Dai purchased Nvidia shares, the stock plunged. Marvell's shares were falling as well. In late 2008, Marvell's shares dipped briefly below $5. Sutardja and Dai, according to the suit, got a call from their Goldman broker who said that they would have to sell 9 million Marvell says to cover the losses in their account. The broker, according to the suit, allegedly said stocks trading for under $5 a share could not be used as collateral for a margin account. The couple say they offered to come up with other collateral to back the margin loan, and that Marvell's shares rebounded above $5 within a few days. Nonetheless, they said they felt pressured to sell. What's more, the couple's suit alleges that Goldman and a hedge fund run by Goldman were buying Marvell's shares at the same time the firm was forcing Sutardja and Dai to sell. Both Nvidia and Marvell's shares have since more than doubled from their late 2008 lows. The couple claim they lost more than $100 million because of their force sales.
"Our claim alleges Goldman was trying to get into Marvell at the same time they were forcing my clients to sell," says Gregory. He says at the height of the financial crisis Goldman was looking for any excuse to reduce its lending in order to make its balance sheet look better to regulators and the firm's own investors. Sutardja and Dai got caught in the crossfire. "Based on the information we have, the order from New York was for the firm's brokers to close as many margin loans as possible. My clients were forced to sell even though the rational for the margin call no longer existed."
