LOS ANGELES – A San Francisco man who made about $192,000 in profits by purchasing Marvel Entertainment, Inc. stock options right after it was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in August 2009 plead guilty Monday to insider trading.
The 29-year-old man who got confidential information that the Walt Disney Company planned to acquire Marvel Entertainment is now facing up to 25 years in prison, federal officials said.
Toby G. Scammell pleaded to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge S. James Otero, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
In an August 2011 civil lawsuit filed by the federal government, Scammell had been charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was later ordered to disgorge his trading profits and pay civil penalties and interest totaling $800,985 in that case, federal officials said.
According to a plea agreement filed in federal court, Scammell learned that Disney planned to acquire another company “that people would recognize right away” from his then-girlfriend, who was an intern at Disney in the summer of 2009 and who worked on the deal to acquire Marvel, officials said.
Scammell later learned from a supervisor at his then-employer — which had periodically provided corporate consulting services to Disney and had confidentiality obligations to Disney — that Disney had previously been interested in acquiring Marvel.
Scammell stated that he learned the planned acquisition by Disney was estimated to close by Labor Day 2009, based on his observations of his girlfriend’s work schedule at Disney and their own travel plans at the time.
Scammell used the information that he learned from his girlfriend to acquire 659 call options to purchase Marvel stock for $5,465. He purchased more than half of the options in his brother’s account. Scammell did not tell his girlfriend or his brother about the purchases of the Marvel call options.
Marvel’s stock rose approximately 25 percent after the deal with Disney was announced on August 31, 2009
After the acquisition was publicly disclosed by Disney, Scammell immediately sold his options, realizing more than $192,000 in profits. Scammell transferred $100,000 of the profits out of his brother’s account to conceal the trading and profits from his brother, officials said.
As a result of the guilty plea, Scammell faces a maximum statutory sentence of 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced by Judge Otero on July 28, 2014, according to authorities.
Scammell was previously charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil lawsuit filed in August 2011. He was later ordered to disgorge his trading profits and pay civil penalties and interest totaling $800,985 in that case.
This case was investigated by the FBI, which received assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission.