Cuban in Trouble

[tav1]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122693827604333637.html

[urunobili]

750.000 is just a tip

[DisAsTerBot]

that drawing of him is.....:lol

[Steve-O-Matic]

750.000 is just a tip
That's true, but insider trading is insider trading, independent of the amount, and you can still go to prison for it.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GC420_Cuban_BV_20081017175309.gif Charges, plus the indignity of the Jim Nabors look-a-like sketch.

Poor Mark.

[tsb2000]

Bye-bye Mark. Don't drop the soap! :lol

The SEC loves to make examples of rich people. Just ask Martha Stewart.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Bye-bye Mark. Don't drop the soap! :lol

The SEC loves to make examples of rich people. Just ask Martha Stewart.

Where are the financial gurus from the stock market thread in The Club? Could this lead to time in a federal PMITA prison?

[Strike]

Bye-bye Mark. Don't drop the soap! :lol

The SEC loves to make examples of rich people. Just ask Martha Stewart.

Really? Just how much time did Martha serve? And how hard was that time?

Refresh my memory, please.

[Kori Ellis]

Really? Just how much time did Martha serve? And how hard was that time?

Refresh my memory, please.

5 months hard time, I believe.

[Shank]

Please. He'll pay the 750k and a fine and this will be over.

Martha had to face charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and making false statements during the insider investigation. So far, the affidavit against Cuban only makes claims about the trade of the 600,000 shares and asks for repayment of losses averted and a civil fine.

[Basileus777]

My condolences Cuban, but I'll always remember how you gifted us with Devin Harris, Ryan Anderson, and a 2010 lotto pick.

[Shank]

My condolences Cuban, but I'll always remember how you gifted us with Devin Harris, Ryan Anderson, and a 2010 lotto pick.

Insightful. Brilliant 3rd post.

[RandomGuy]

I didn't think I was going to be the first one to post this, so I looked around and sure enough, I wasn't.

FWIW:


WASHINGTON – Federal regulators on Monday charged Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban with insider trading for allegedly using confidential information on a stock sale to avoid more than $750,000 in losses.

Cuban disputed the allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and said he would contest them.

The SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Cuban in federal court in Dallas. The agency alleged that in June 2004, Cuban was invited to get in on the coming stock offering by Mamma.com Inc. after he agreed to keep the information private.

Cuban owned 6.3 percent of Mamma.com's stock at that time and was the largest known shareholder in the search engine company, according to the SEC. The agency said Cuban knew the shares would be sold below the current market price, and a few hours after receiving the information, he told his broker to sell all 600,000 shares before the public announcement of the offering.

By selling when he did, Cuban avoided losses exceeding $750,000, the SEC said in its lawsuit. Montreal-based Mamma.com changed its name to Copernic Inc. in June 2007.

"It is fundamentally unfair for someone to use access to nonpublic information to improperly gain an edge on the market," Scott Friestad, the SEC's deputy enforcement director, said in a statement. The agency alleged that Cuban acted with "scienter," a legal term indicating knowledge of wrongdoing.

The SEC is seeking a court judgment against Cuban finding that he violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, an injunction against future violations, an unspecified civil penalty and restitution of the losses Cuban allegedly avoided.

Unless he is subject to an injunction, Cuban "is likely to commit such violations again in the future," according to the SEC suit.

Cuban's attorney said in a statement that the SEC's case "has no merit and is a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion."

"Mr. Cuban intends to contest the allegations and to demonstrate that the (SEC's) claims are infected by the misconduct of the staff of its enforcement division," Ralph Ferrara wrote in a note posted on Cuban's blog.

Cuban, in his own statement, said, "I am disappointed that the (SEC) chose to bring this case based upon its enforcement staff's win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff's process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government's claims are false and they will be proven to be so."

Cuban, 50, also owns Landmark Theaters, a large national chain dedicated to independent films, and the HDNet cable television channel.

He also runs a Web site called Sharesleuth.com, which bills itself as providing "independent Web-based reporting aimed at exposing securities fraud and corporate chicanery." An announcement on the site says there are plans for a companion, BailoutSleuth.com, to track the government's $700 financial rescue plan.

Cuban is one of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine, which pegged his net worth at $2.3 billion as of March 2007.

Mamma.com decided in the spring of 2004 to raise capital in a so-called private placement in public equity offering, known as a PIPE, according to the SEC suit. In late June, as the PIPE moved toward closing, Mamma.com's investment bank suggested the company invite Cuban to participate.

On June 28, Mamma.com Chief Executive Guy Faure e-mailed Cuban asking him to call him "ASAP," the SEC said. Cuban called four minutes later from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and spoke to Faure for about eight minutes.

Faure, who resigned last year, began the conversation by telling Cuban he was about to give him confidential information. Cuban agreed to keep it to himself, the SEC said.

Cuban became upset and angry during the conversation, and said that he didn't like PIPEs because they dilute the value of company stock for existing shareholders, according to the SEC. At the end of the call, Cuban said, "Well now I'm screwed. I can't sell."

[freemeat]

It's a civil lawsuit, so there are no prison implications.

At the most, he'll have to pay back his "profits" and a hefty fine.

It's not a big deal unless he starts shredding paper.

[RandomGuy]

[Cuban] also runs a Web site called Sharesleuth.com, which bills itself as providing "independent Web-based reporting aimed at exposing securities fraud and corporate chicanery." An announcement on the site says there are plans for a companion, BailoutSleuth.com, to track the government's $700 financial rescue plan.

:lmao

Oh man...


"I am disappointed that the (SEC) chose to bring this case based upon its enforcement staff's win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff's process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government's claims are false and they will be proven to be so."

Maybe the staff is a bunch of disgruntled (fill in the blank) fans. :p:

[Steve-O-Matic]

It's a civil lawsuit, so there are no prison implications.

At the most, he'll have to pay back his "profits" and a hefty fine.

It's not a big deal unless he starts shredding paper.

Not true. It's for the U.S. Attorney in Dallas to determine whether Cuban should and will face criminal charges as well. This is only just beginning.

[RandomGuy]

Not true. It's for the U.S. Attorney in Dallas to determine whether Cuban should and will face criminal charges as well. This is only just beginning.

Let the fun and games begin. Wheeeee!!!

"If the tip doesn't fit, you must acquit!!"

Where is Johnny Cochrain when you need him?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Where is Johnny Cochrain when you need him?

http://www.shortnorth.com/NorthGraveyardOne.jpg

[Shank]

Cuban will win this. He'll use the Chewbacca Defense.

http://www.connect-dots.com/Poofs/chewbacca.jpg

[hater]

martha went to jail cause she lied to a federal court.

cuban is not that stupid. but I hope he is :D

[Shank]

martha went to jail cause she lied to a federal court.

cuban is not that stupid. but I hope he is :D

He's not stupid, but he can be a quick-trigger hothead as we read in the affidavit. If I were in that situation, I'd own up, pay what was owed and quickly move on. I wouldn't press the issue. If this thing goes too far and he pulls a Stewart, then that would leave Stern and other NBA owners to decide if they want a convicted felon running a professional franchise.

[z0sa]

No one worth $2.3 billion is stupid when it comes to their money.

[Obstructed_View]

http://tf2.fylez.com/GomerPyle.jpg

[Spur-Addict]

5 months hard time, I believe.

I don't think there was anything hard about the time she served, cupcake at best.

[RandomGuy]

He's not stupid, but he can be a quick-trigger hothead as we read in the affidavit. If I were in that situation, I'd own up, pay what was owed and quickly move on. I wouldn't press the issue. If this thing goes too far and he pulls a Stewart, then that would leave Stern and other NBA owners to decide if they want a convicted felon running a professional franchise.

At least with Cuban, that would mean there was at least one confirmed crook. The rest are mostly crooks but we don't have the luxury of knowing for 100% certain which are which.

[angel_luv]

Wow- I had no idea Mark Cuban was 50 years old. Neither his appearance nor his behavior indicates that he is.