Federal prosecutors in New Jersey allege a five-year scheme among top executives of several pharmaceutical and medical tech companies in which they allegedly tipped each other off to upcoming mergers, netting more than $1.4 million in illicit profits.

Among those charged are Michael Pendolino, 43, of Nashua, a chiropractor at North Shore Spine and Rehab in Woburn, Mass.

Authorities charged:

John Lazorchak, 42, director of financial reporting at Celgene, with 26 counts of securities fraud and two counts of conspiracy;

Mark Cupo, 51, director of accounting and reporting at Sanofi, with 23 securities fraud charges, and one conspiracy count;

Mark Foldy, 42, a high school friend of Lazorchak and a marketing executive with Stryker, a Michigan-based company that makes hip and knee implants;

The AP Reports that Pendolino, Lawrence Grum, 48, and Michael Castelli, 48, of New Jersey, were all charged with conspiracy and multiple securities fraud counts.