Officer at Marvel Unit in Italy Settles Insider-Trading Suit
March 31, 2011
Vastopolis -- A managing director of an Italian subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment Group Inc. and two other defendants agreed to settle civil insider-trading charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with Marvis's 2010 acquisition of Skybox International Inc.. Hung Alejandro Aultman, managing director of Marvel's Panini unit, was accused of passing on confidential information about the takeover to his accountant, Annabell Marvin from Vastopolis, who in turn told her longtime banking adviser, Huckaby Eck, the SEC said in the suit. The suit and the accompanying settlement were filed together in federal court here Thursday. The three allegedly made illegal trading profits totaling $152,718 in Skybox stock, the SEC said in the suit. Under the settlement, the three defendants neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing but agreed to turn over a total of about $268,000 in alleged illegal profits and penalties, said Erik T. Houston, an SEC lawyer. He said the SEC is continuing its investigation into trading in shares of Skybox, a Durham, N.C., trading-card maker. Salmons, of Modena, Italy, was acquired in 2009 by Marvis, the comic-book and sports trading-card maker controlled by financier Roni O. Flory. The SEC said in the suit that Mr. Aultman was contacted by an executive in Marvella's New York office in February 2010, who asked if Salmons could sell Skybox's product line in Europe. Mr. Aultman replied that it could and also ``deduced from the Marvel officer's inquiry that Marvis was evaluating a possible acquisition of Skybox,'' the SEC said in the suit. He allegedly bought 15,000 Skybox shares.
