Disney employee caught selling inside information / Mait
27/05/2010. Tags: Bonnie Hoxie, inside information, insiders, SEC, Walt Disney, Yonni Sebbag, Zenia MuchaThe Money Times wrote about another inside information case, but rather different this time.
A Walt Disney Co. administrative assistant and her boyfriend were caught trying to sell inside information regarding the company’s earnings. Both of them were arrested Wednesday morning in Los Angeles.
Walt Disney Co.’s head of corporate communications, Zenia Mucha’s assistant Bonnie Hoxie and her boyfriend Yonni Sebbag plotted to sell confidential Disney information to investment companies. The duo sent out mails to about 33 companies, including hedge funds, offering to share Disney’s quarterly earnings report with them in exchange of money.
Releasing Disney’s confidential information
“Hi, I have access to Disney’s (DIS) quarterly earnings report before its release on 05/03/10,” read the letter, sent Mar 5. “I am willing to share this information for a fee that we can determine later.”
The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York has charged the two with conspiracy and wire fraud. Hoxie, 33, and Sebbag, 29, could face up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted on all charges.
A federal judge released Hoxie on a $50,000 bond but ordered that Sebbag must be held as a potential flight risk. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has also sued the two.
