SEC Whacks Finance Manager’s Husband

SAN JOSE (CN) - A Bay Area man made $151,500 by trading on inside information he learned by overhearing phone calls his wife made about an Oracle acquisition, the SEC claims in court.

The SEC sued Tyrone Hawk, 46, of Los Gatos, in Federal Court. His wife, an Oracle finance manager, is not a party to the case. In fact, she warned him about illegal inside trading, the SEC says in the complaint.

"This case involves insider trading in the securities of Acme Packet Inc. ('Acme

Packet'), an Internet networking company based in Bedford, Massachusetts, which announced its acquisition by Oracle Corporation ('Oracle') in February 2013," the 5-page lawsuit begins. "A few weeks before the public announcement, defendant Tyrone Hawk learned about the then-secret acquisition by, among other things, overhearing work calls made by his wife, an Oracle finance manager working on the deal. Hawk also had a conversation with his wife in which she informed him that there was a blackout window for trading Oracle securities because Oracle was in the process of acquiring another company. Despite his wife's admonitions about trading, Hawk misappropriated this information for his own benefit by purchasing over $600,000 worth of Acme Packet shares over the next two weeks. After the announcement, Acme Packet's stock price jumped over 23 percent, and Hawk realized a profit of $151,480 by selling his Acme Packet shares."

Hawk's wife worked part-time from home, the SEC says, which apparently is where Hawk overheard her discussing the deal.

The SEC seeks disgorgement, a fine and an injunction.

It's one of two lawsuits the SEC filed Monday, in which it accused a husband of inside trading after overhearing his wife discussing deals on the phone.

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