[ by Howard Haykin ] No 'Insider the Park Homer' for Doug DeCinces in 2011;  and in 2012, look who just got tagged out trying to stretch a double into a 3-base hit - why, it's DeCinces former teammate .... The Baltimore Orioles finally are playing competitive baseball - and fighting for a wild card spot in the playoff.  So why did 2villustrious Oriole stars of the past allegedly go out and commit stupid, illegal trading, while taken attention away from the 2012 Orioles team? The SEC announced a 2nd round of charges in an insider trading case involving former professional baseball players and 2 others, including the former CEO of a CA-based medical eye products company that was the subject of the illegal trading. In August 2011, Doug DeCinces and others were the first ones named in the SEC insider case, and all agreed to settle these charges.  [Refer to SEC PR 11-161, 8/4/11, or C-I's WWW Story, Former Baseball All-Star Caught Stealing by SEC, 8/8/11.] In August 2012, former teammate Eddie Murray is named, along with: (i) James Mazzo, the source of those illegal tips, who was the Chairman and CEO of Advanced Medical Optics, and a close friend and neighbor of DeCinces;  and (ii) David Parker, a Utah businessman who's a friend of DeCinces.  Murray and Parker both received their tips from DeCinces. Trading Ahead of an Announced Take Over. In Round One last August, the SEC accused former Baltimore Oriole Doug DeCinces and 3 others with insider trading ahead of the announced acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics Inc.  The 4 tippees made over $1.7 millionn in illicit profits, and collectively, they agreed to pay more than $3.3 million to settle SEC’s charges. Now in August 2012, DeCinces’ former Baltimore Orioles teammate Eddie Murray is charged with trading on insider information.  Murray agreed has settled the SEC's charges - he'll pay $358K, which includes disgorgement of $235K in illegal profits.  The SEC's case continues against Parker and Mazzo, the latter of whom was directly involved in the tender offer and tipped the confidential information to DeCinces along the way.

"It is truly disappointing when role models, particularly those who have achieved so much in their professional careers, give in to the temptation of easy money.  Mazzo had repeated personal contacts and communications with DeCinces, who promptly traded and tipped Murray, Parker and others that a deal involving Mazzo’s company was imminent.

CEOs and other employees of public companies must resist the lure of sharing confidential information with their friends and always put the interests of their shareholders and company first." -- Daniel Hawke, Chief of SEC Enforcement's Market Abuse Unit and Director of the Philadelphia Regional Office.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Mazzo and DeCinces had been close friends for quite some time and lived in the same exclusive gated community in Laguna Beach, Calif.  They socialized together with their wives, belonging to the same Orange County country club and vacationing together overseas.  They also communicated frequently by e-mail and through phone calls. Mazzo invested in the restaurant business of DeCinces’ son, and DeCinces’ daughter provided interior decorating services for Mazzo and his wife.  Mazzo was directly involved in the impending Advanced Medical Optics/Abbott transaction from its inception in October 2008.  With knowledge of confidential information about the deal and his duty not to disclose it, Mazzo illegally tipped DeCinces, who made significant purchases of Advanced Medical Optics shares on 11/5/08, and continuing up until and near the time of the public announcement of the acquisition. The SEC alleges that Parker and DeCinces had been friends and business associates at the time of the illegal trading.  Between 1/6/09 and 1/8/09, Parker bought 25,000 shares of Advanced Medical Optics stock on the basis of confidential information received from DeCinces about the impending transaction. Parker made approximately $347,920 when he sold the stock on the same day as the public announcement.  Meanwhile on January 7, Murray used all of the available cash in his self-directed brokerage account to purchase 17,000 shares of Advanced Medical Optics stock on the basis of the confidential information that DeCinces communicated to him. Murray sold all of his shares following the public announcement. Murray agreed to settle the charges against him without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations by consenting to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violating Sections 10(b) and 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3 thereunder.  Murray agreed to pay disgorgement of $235,314, prejudgment interest of $5,180, and a penalty of $117,657 for a total of $358,151.v The settlement is subject to final approval by the court. SEC Staff Credits. Investigation, which is continuing, by: Colleen Lynch, John Rymas, and David Snyder – all with Market Abuse Unit in Philadelphia; and, Elaine Greenberg, Assoc. Regional Director in Philadelphia office, Sanjay Wadhwa, Deputy Unit Chief in New York.  Jeffrey Boujoukos, Michael Rinaldi, and Scott Thompson will handle litigation. For further details, go to:   [SEC PR 12-159, 8/17/12] and [SEC Complaint].