A staffer in Blackstone’s financial advisory group was charged by the Securities & Exchange Commission with insider trading in connection with the 2006 acquisition of supermarket chain Albertson’s by a group including Cerberus Capital, Supervalu and CVS.

Ramesh Chakrapani, then a 30-year-old vice-president, is alleged to have helped his parents and friends make $3.6m on information he was privy to while working in Blackstone’s London office, according to the suit filed in US District Court in New York.