Billionaire Mark Cuban indicted on insider trading charges

[KSigkid]

A couple of things on this (and, I'm not a lawyer yet or by any means an SEC expert, so bear with me...)

1) He's still in the civil phase, so there's no guarantee that there will be follow-up criminal charges. I'm not sure of the percentage of these cases that turn into some sort of criminal charges, or whether his notoriety will play a part in subsequent charges, but he's not going to jail (yet).

2) There is a difference in Martha's situation - if I remember correctly, she didn't go to prison for insider trading, but for lying to SEC officials and investigators. It was the lying that did her in, not the insider trading itself.

ETA: Kevin, did he make any offensive comments about OKC during the process? Or did he just vote against the relocation?

[RU OX Alum]

I thought she went for obstruction of justice? (Martha, I mean)

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

I thought she went for obstruction of justice? (Martha, I mean)

She did - but lying to investigators is, in effect, obstructing justice.

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

She did - but lying to investigators is, in effect, obstructing justice.

ah, that makes sense

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

ETA: Kevin, did he make any offensive comments about OKC during the process? Or did he just vote against the relocation?

Yep.

“I’m going to wait to get all the information,” he said before the Sonics’ game against the Mavericks. “(But) my preference is the Sonics stay in Seattle. My prejudice is against having a Dustbowl Division in this part of the country because I don’t think in the big picture that helps the NBA and I think the bigger market helps the NBA.”

He's a jackass.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Yep.



He's a jackass.

. . . except there's a decent chance he's right, if you look at attendance (especially road attendance) figures; this is beside the fact that the owner who took the team from Seattle is a first-rate cockbag who lied about literally everything, including in his dep(s).

This seems like kind of a long shot for a criminal phase, at least from a purely outside point of view, although Kevin's exactly right - this amount of money is effectively trivial for the guy, so it may just be the tip of the iceberg.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

. . . except there's a decent chance he's right, if you look at attendance (especially road attendance) figures; this is beside the fact that the owner who took the team from Seattle is a first-rate cockbag who lied about literally everything, including in his dep(s).

Exactly - I mean, you may disagree with him, especially because you're from the area, but the statement wasn't that egregious, in my opinion.

I'll agree with the two of you, though, that this may be part of a pattern. The SEC may be doing this with more of a long view, or they may have more information about other transactions than they're releasing to the public.

From talking to professors and people who know the process, my understanding is that most of the people in Cuban's position work out a deal with the SEC, make some sort of apology, and that's it. I'm wondering if his public criticism of the investigators will come back to bite him.

Or, maybe he'll just lie about it like Martha...

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

. . . except there's a decent chance he's right, if you look at attendance (especially road attendance) figures; this is beside the fact that the owner who took the team from Seattle is a first-rate cockbag who lied about literally everything, including in his dep(s).

We'll see in a couple of years. Right now, there's a definite honeymoon. Our season tickets sold out in 5 days. The team is 1-8, but we're #12 in the league in attendance right now. The road attendance figures are easy -- no one cares when a 1-8 team comes to town for a beat down by the home team. All of the teams doing better than OKC in attendance are playoff contenders, fwiw.

Next year, we'll have another high draft pick and hopefully be rid of Carlesimo. With all that young talent, I think we have a decent team for next year.

/end hijack