Reference no: EM131674933

Question: Toby Scammel's girlfriend was briefl y involved in Disney's acquisition of Marvel in 2009. Scammel bought 659 Marvel options for $5,465 in the days prior to the announcement of the acquisition. Within the nine days following the announcement, Scammel sold all his Marvel shares, amounting to a total of $192,496.61. Although Scammel's girlfriend would mention general facts about a big project she was working on, the couple claimed that she never gave him details about the acquisition. However, he had access to her electronic documents related to the acquisition and had begun piecing together the companies involved and the timing of the acquisition. Scammell's girlfriend had confidential information about the deal, including that Disney would pay $50 per share for Marvel and that the deal would be announced by Labor Day. Scammel claimed that his girlfriend had told him nothing and that he had done nothing wrong; he had frequently been involved in the stock market and was simply trading shares normally as he had done before. The sec, in its investigation, also learned just before he purchased many of the Marvel securities, Scammell searched the internet for the terms "insider trading," "material, non-public information," and "Rule 10b-5." What crime do you believe Scammel was charged with? Do you think there was enough evidence to warrant his conviction for that crime?