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HOUSTON (AP) — A word to the wise: If you hear your spouse talking about work while working from home, forget anything you might learn from it. And never trade stocks using information that authorities will almost certainly consider to be inside information.
Tyler Loudon, 42, of Houston, learned this lesson the hard way.he Pleaded guilty to securities fraud on Thursday. For buying and selling stocks based on details gleaned from his wife’s business conversations while she was working from home. He made a profit of $1.7 million on the deal, but agreed to forfeit that profit.
If Loudon or his wife had decided to work in an office, things might have played out differently.
Mr. Loudon’s wife worked as a mergers and acquisitions manager at London-based oil and gas conglomerate BP. So when Mr. Loudon heard details of BP’s plans to buy the Ohio-based truck stop and travel center company, he smelled profit. He bought more than 46,000 shares of the truckstop company’s stock before the merger was announced in February 2023, when the stock price soared about 71%, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Loudon then promptly sold the shares, reportedly for a profit of $1.76 million. His spouse was unaware of his activities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Loudon will be sentenced on May 17 and could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. You may also be required to pay a fine in addition to other penalties to resolve the issue. Separate civil action still pending Brought to you by the SEC.
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