09.25.14
The former CEO of Advanced Medical Optics Inc. has been charged with tipping a former Baltimore Orioles third baseman that his company was about to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 2009.
James Mazzo was indicted on 13 counts of insider trading for providing nonpublic information about the acquisition to Doug DeCinces, which helped the former Major League Baseball player make a $1.3 million in illegal profit when the deal was announced, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
The charges against Mazzo come almost two years after DeCinces was first indicted. He passed on the insider information to five other people who bought shares of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Advanced Medical Optics (now Abbott Medical Optics), according to the statement. Two of those are also charged with insider trading. DeCinces has denied the allegations.
A former Orioles teammate of DeCinces, Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, paid $358,151 in 2012 to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit that accused him of profiting from the tips. Murray denied wrongdoing in settling the case. Prosecutors haven’t charged him with any crimes. DeCinces paid $2.5 million in 2012 to settle with the SEC.
Mazzo served as board chairman of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) from 2010-2012. He retired from Abbott Medical Optics the same year he left AdvaMed.
Mazzo was also sued by the SEC and is fighting that lawsuit in federal court in Santa Ana.
James Mazzo was indicted on 13 counts of insider trading for providing nonpublic information about the acquisition to Doug DeCinces, which helped the former Major League Baseball player make a $1.3 million in illegal profit when the deal was announced, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
The charges against Mazzo come almost two years after DeCinces was first indicted. He passed on the insider information to five other people who bought shares of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Advanced Medical Optics (now Abbott Medical Optics), according to the statement. Two of those are also charged with insider trading. DeCinces has denied the allegations.
A former Orioles teammate of DeCinces, Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, paid $358,151 in 2012 to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit that accused him of profiting from the tips. Murray denied wrongdoing in settling the case. Prosecutors haven’t charged him with any crimes. DeCinces paid $2.5 million in 2012 to settle with the SEC.
Mazzo served as board chairman of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) from 2010-2012. He retired from Abbott Medical Optics the same year he left AdvaMed.
Mazzo was also sued by the SEC and is fighting that lawsuit in federal court in Santa Ana.