An Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner has been accused of hawking a copy of a non-public whistleblower complaint to a company facing a False Claims Act lawsuit.

The alleged scheme ended with a resounding thud for the defendant, Jeffrey Wertkin, who joined Akin Gump as a partner last April after serving nearly six years as a trial lawyer in the US Justice Department's Civil Division.

A criminal complaint unsealed on Monday in San Francisco federal court says Wertkin was arrested at a hotel in Cupertino, California, on 31 January as he attempted to sell a copy of the sealed complaint for $310,000 (£247,000) to an undercover FBI agent.

"My life is over," Wertkin told an arresting officer, according to the criminal complaint. The case against Wertkin – who was allegedly wearing a wig and going by the name 'Dan' when the FBI took him into custody – was first reported by Bloomberg.

Wertkin was quickly fired by Akin Gump, a firm representative said in a statement.

"We are shocked and deeply troubled by the conduct alleged in the charges filed against Mr Wertkin. Honesty and integrity are at the core of our values and our client relationships," the firm's statement said. "Immediately upon learning of these charges, we took swift action and Mr Wertkin is no longer with the firm."

The complaint against Wertkin claims he engaged in a months-long plot to collect a "consulting fee" for a sealed False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit against an unnamed company based in Sunnyvale, California. Using the name Dan, Wertkin allegedly first contacted a high ranking employee at the company in late November, alerting that employee that a sealed false claims lawsuit had been brought against the company.

Wertkin allegedly sent the company employee a redacted first page of the complaint, which the FBI verified as a legitimate document filed under seal in January 2016 in San Francisco federal court, according to the complaint. In December, FBI agents spoke to the company employee, who agreed to remain in touch with Wertkin and have their phone calls recorded.

During a recorded call in December, Wertkin said he would be willing to provide a full copy of the sealed complaint for $300,000, the FBI alleges. In later recorded conversations, Wertkin allegedly upped his asking price to $310,000 and outlined a detailed plan to exchange the money in person on 31 January.

The employee explained to Wertkin that he would send a colleague of his named "Bill" to meet Wertkin with the $310,000 in a Sunnyvale-area hotel on 31 January. Bill, however, was really an FBI special agent named William Scanlon, according to the criminal complaint.

On the morning of 31 January, Scanlon went to a Hilton Garden Inn in Cupertino, wearing a grey Titleist hat and carrying a blue duffel bag, following the plan hatched by Wertkin and the company employee during recorded phonecalls. Shortly after Scanlon arrived at the arranged meeting spot, Wertkin, in his wig, sat down next to him and handed him the full FCA complaint, according to the criminal case.

"As a former trial attorney with the Department of Justice, I believe that Wertkin would have extensive knowledge of the qui tam process and would know that such complaints are filed under seal with the court until the court lifts the sealing order," Scanlon said in the criminal complaint. "There is probable cause to believe that Jeffrey Wertkin unlawfully sought to sell the company a sealed FCA complaint in exchange for $310,000."

A lawyer for Wertkin, Julia Jayne of San Francisco criminal defence firm Jayne Law Group, could not immediately be reached for comment. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) did not respond to a request for comment about Wertkin's arrest and his record while at the DOJ.