By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
An assistant to a top executive at the Walt Disney Company pleaded guilty Tuesday in Manhattan U.S. District Court to partaking in an insider trading scheme.
Bonnie J. Hoxie, 34, of Los Angeles, admitted that she along with her boyfriend Yonni Sebbag of Morocco obtained confidential inside information, including Disney’s quarterly earnings, and tried selling it to outside investors for stock trading purposes. Sebbag had already pleaded guilty.
Authorities said from March 2010 through May 25 of this year Hoxie worked as a secretary to Disney’s Head of Corporate Communications and obtained material, nonpublic information and gave it to Sebbag.
Authorities said the scheme involved sending out letters anonymously to hedge funds and other investment companies, offering to sell the info for insider trading.
Undercover FBI agents posed as hedge fund traders known as “tippees” and offered to buy the information. The couple was arrested after Sebbag accepted $15,000 from undercover FBI agents for the information, authorities said.
“Today, Bonnie Hoxie admitted to playing with a stacked deck by selling valuable Disney secrets to make a quick buck,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “This Office will continue to work with the FBI and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prosecute individuals who commit insider trading and jeopardize the integrity of our financial markets.”
