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Mark Cuban Found Not Guilty of Insider Trading

Posted by samzenpus on from the off-the-hook dept.

schwit1 writes "Mark Cuban won a years-long fight with the federal government Wednesday as jurors decided that the billionaire basketball team owner did not commit insider-trading when he sold his shares in an Internet company in 2004. The jury in federal district court in Dallas said that the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to prove the key elements of its case, including the claim that Cuban agreed to keep certain information confidential and not trade on it. The nine-member jury deliberated about half a day before reaching the unanimous decision that ended the three-week trial."

6 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Good by davebarnes · · Score: 2

    Now, hopefully he will work to normalize relations with Cuba.

    --
    Dave Barnes 9 breweries within walking distance of my house
  2. Re:Regardless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not really. The SEC typically catches insider trading by working their way up the chain specifically because they KNOW the low level flunkies can't afford the defense.

    If you're genuinely innocent and the SEC accuses you of insider trading, you either turn into a squealer or suffer (social and financial) death by a thousand cuts.

  3. It's widespread, but really hard to prove by Gordo_1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Even in the Martha Stewart case, they only got her on obstruction of justice. Hard to say whether Cuban was legit or not, all we know is that the evidence was not strong enough to convict.

    The theory seems to be that insider trading is so widespread and difficult to prove that one of the government's strategies is to go after a few high profile 'celebrity' cases as a way to drive awareness among the populace. It probably gets your average Joe to think twice before trading on a tip from an executive friend higher up in the corporate ladder, but I suspect the people who really know what they're doing siphon millions out of the market daily.

  4. if you don't have money, you're in trouble by geoffrobinson · · Score: 2

    If you have money, you can mount a legal defense. If you don't have money, prosecutors can absolutely destroy you and your life even if you are innocent. There was a book detailing how everyone commits felonies because the federal criminal code, along with regulatory stuff, is so complex. It was called "Three Felonies a Day."

    Basically, if a prosecutor wants to put you in jail, you're toast.

    So good for Cuban.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
  5. This was a civil case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This was a civil case, meaning that he was simply being asked to repay some money, not face jail time.
    It also means he was up against the SEC in a spot where they only had to have "Preponderance of Evidence" instead of "Beyond Reason Doubt."
    There must have been very little here.

  6. Re:Regardless by alexo · · Score: 2

    Ahhhh, America.
    The country with the best justice money can buy.