Nov 28 (Reuters) – Former Baltimore Orioles third baseman
Doug DeCinces has been indicted by a federal grand jury for
insider trading, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
DeCinces was charged with 42 counts of criminal securities
fraud and one count of money laundering over the 2008 purchase
of stock in a medical device company based on insider
information, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District
Court.
DeCinces, 60, bought $160,000 worth of stock in Advanced
Medical Optics, Inc., after a “close personal friend” alerted
him to an impending takeover bid by Abbott Laboratories,
according to prosecutors.
He sold his stock shortly after the takeover bid was
announced, making $1.3 million in profits, the department said.
The criminal charges came on the heels of civil charges
filed against DeCinces in August 2011 by the Securities and
Exchange Commission related to the same accusations.
DeCinces settled those charges with the SEC, agreeing to pay
$2.5 million in fines, while neither admitting nor denying
wrongdoing in the trading of Advanced Medical Optics shares.
The indictment also names three friends of DeCinces to whom
he provided the insider information to make up for previous
investment advice that “had gone bad,” according to prosecutors.
