Cuban Can't Resist Using BlogMaverick To Defend Against SEC Charges
This story was written by Staci D. Kramer.
Sorry I didn't start a pool on how long it would take the usually voluble Mark Cuban to move past that first relatively low-keyfor himresponse to the SEC's charges of insider trading yesterday. Well, technically, he isn't doing the talking. Instead, Tuesday's salvo posted on Cuban's Blog Maverick is from a second lawyer at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP "on behalf of Mark Cuban." This one denies the SEC's claim that Cuban broke an agreement of confidentiality when he sold his stake in Mamma.com in 2004 just before the company made an announcement that would dilute the value.
The post includes a partial transcript of an interview with former Mamma.com CEO Guy Faure, who is not identified by name in the SEC lawsuit. Faure acknowledged telling Cuban he had confidential information for him but can't remember a response from Cuban. The argument: Cuban never agreed to it so it wasn't confidential. The potential legal problem with that defense: that may not mean there was no reasonable expectation of confidentiality. More interesting, perhapsthe post concludes by pulling in the SEC's investigation of Mamma.com: "Why did the SEC end their multi-year investigation of Mamma.com Inc. for alleged securities laws violations days before interviewing present and former Mamma.com Inc. executives about this matter? Was the timing a coincidence? We think not."
And we think this isn't the end of similar posts "on behalf" of Cuban. Best if you subscribe to Blog Maverick if you want to follow them all.
By Staci D. Kramer