Boyfriend of Disney staffer charged with insider trading

The SEC says Toby Scammell purchased $5,465 worth of options in Marvel Entertainment, based on confidential information that Disney was planning to acquire the entertainment company. Scammell found out about the deal from his girlfriend, who worked in Disney's corporate strategy department (he had access to her BlackBerry). From the complaint:

Scammell's pattern of trading was especially unusual on Friday, August 28, the last trading day before the acquisition announcement. On that date, Scammell placed ten separate limit orders to purchase Marvel call options with a strike price of $40, canceled each one within less than a few hours when it was not successful, and then increased his bid. He continued this pattern of trading throughout the day, until he was finally able to purchase the call options with a strike price of $40 just a few minutes before trading closed on August 28, 2009.

When the purchase was announced and Marvel's stock skyrocketed, Scammell sold his options for $192,000, a 3,000 percent return, according to the complaint. No offense to the SEC, but it's too bad that other financial misdeeds can't be tied up so neatly.