SEC lost 2nd insider-trading trial in 7 days The Securities and Exchange Commission lost its second insider-trading trial in the space of seven days, when a federal jury on Friday cleared a former chief executive of a California chip maker. The SEC filed a civil suit against Manouchehr Moshayedi in 2012, alleging he traded on inside information and made false and misleading statements in connection with the sale of $268 million of STEC Inc. stock owned by him and his brother, also a founder of the company. His brother wasn't accused of any wrongdoing. STEC Inc. is based in Santa Ana., Calif. A spokesman for the SEC said in a statement: "We respect the jury's verdict but will continue to aggressively enforce the law when we believe the evidence supports the allegations." A lawyer representing Mr. Moshayedi didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The loss adds to the SEC's recent mixed record on civil insider-trading cases. The agency Wednesday dismissed its case against Atlanta businessman Parker H. Petit and last week the SEC lost an insider-trading trial against hedge-fund manager Nelson J. Obus . Read more on WSJ.com. More at The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, http://blogs.wsj.com/law/
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 06-06-14 1808ET Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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