A former senior KPMG LLP partner in Los Angeles has been charged with  passing confidential information about clients to a close friend in  exchange for cash bribes.

In a criminal complaint filed on  Thursday, Scott London, former chief of KPMG's audit practice for the  Southwestern United States, was accused of helping Bryan Shaw, the owner  of a local jewelry business, obtain more than $1 million in illegal  profits from the insider information. London was charged with one count  of conspiracy to commit securities fraud through insider trading.  Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil  action against London and Shaw.

"The public has every right to  fully expect a level playing field in our financial markets," said U.S.  Attorney André Birotte in Los Angeles. "As alleged in the complaint, Mr.  London chose to betray the trust placed in him as a financial auditor  and to tip the trading scales for the benefit of insiders like himself."

London's attorney, Harland Braun of the Law Offices of Harland Braun in Los Angeles, did not return a call for comment.

The  SEC complaint included a statement tendered on Tuesday in which London  regretted his actions and apologized to KPMG and his colleagues at the  firm. "The Firm bears no responsibility in this matter. These actions  were by my choice and mine only," he said. "Knowing that I have caused  harm and embarrassment to those that I respected and admired in the Firm  has caused me tremendous grief."

The charges come after KPMG  abruptly resigned as auditor to Skechers USA Inc. and Herbalife Ltd.,  citing concerns that "the firm's independence has been impacted as a  result of" London's actions, KPMG announced on Monday. The firm fired  London.

"KPMG's 22,000 partners and employees unequivocally  condemn this individual's rogue actions," the accounting firm wrote.  "This individual violated the firm's rigorous policies and protections,  betrayed the trust of clients as well as colleagues, and acted with  deliberate disregard for KPMG's long-standing culture of professionalism  and integrity."

London had supervised more than 500 accounting professionals at KPMG and personally audited Herbalife and Skechers.

The  criminal complaint alleged that Shaw received confidential information  about impending earnings reports for Herbalife, Skechers and Deckers  Outdoor Corp. from late 2010 to March 2013. In some cases, London read  confidential information in press releases that wouldn't be released to  the public until two or three days later. He also relayed confidential  information regarding pending mergers, specifically the sale of RSC  Holdings to United Rentals Inc. and UnionBanCal Corp.'s purchase of  Santa Barbara, Calif.'s Pacific Capital Bancorp.

In exchange, the  complaint continued, Shaw gave London bags of $100 bills, wrapped in  bundles of $10,000 each. He also gave him a $12,000 Rolex watch, jewelry  and Bruce Springsteen concert tickets. The value was typically 10  percent of his profits from the illegal securities trades.