The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint today against a California man who allegedly used confidential information about Disney’s planned acquisition of Marvel Entertainment — obtained from his girfriend, a Disney employee — to buy up Marvel stock options before the August 2009 sale and collect $ 192,000 after the deal was made public and Marvel shares soared. The complaint said that Toby G. Scammell got the insider information from his girlfriend’s BlackBerry and used some cash for his purchase from the account of his older brother, who was in the Army and deployed to Iraq at the time. The options raised a red flag at the SEC as Scammell, then 24, had never traded Marvel securities before buying the $ 5,400 in options. After the sale was announced, Marvel’s stock rose 25%, giving Scammell a 3,000% profit when he sold off.
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