A man will plead guilty to securities fraud and pay regulators around $US801,000 for using insider information to profit from Disney's $US4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009.
According to the deal filed in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday, Toby Scammell learned from his then-girlfriend, a Disney corporate strategy employee, that Disney would acquire a well-known company she didn't name.
Scammell learned from his consulting company that Disney had previously wanted to acquire Marvel. He bought call options in Marvel stock for around $US5,500, and later sold them for $US192,000 in profit.
Last month, Scammell agreed to settle a parallel civil case and pay $US801,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will be credited to his fine in the criminal case. He also faces prison time.
