Former Playboy Playmate Busted

The SEC missed catching Bernie Madoff, but they were apparently all over former Playboy playmate Maria Checa.

According to the SEC, Matthew Devlin, a former registered representative at Lehman Brothers, Inc. in New York City, traded on and tipped his clients and friends with inside information on 13 impending corporate transactions. Some of Devlin's clients and friends, three of whom worked in the securities or legal professions, tipped others who also traded in the securities of the companies involved in the transactions.

Devlin got the inside information from his wife, a partner in the New York City office of an international public relations firm working on the deals. Because the inside information was valuable, some of the traders referred to Devlin and his wife as the "golden goose." The SEC's complaint reports that Devlin was rewarded with cash and luxury items for providing inside information, including a widescreen TV, a leather jacket, and Porsche driving lessons.

The SEC's complaint alleges that, based on the information provided by Devlin, the defendants variously purchased the common stock or options of the following public companies: InVision Technologies, Inc.; Eon Labs, Inc.; Mylan, Inc.; Abgenix, Inc.; Aztar Corporation; Veritas, DGC, Inc.; Mercantile Bankshares Corporation; Alcan, Inc.; Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.; Pharmion Corporation; Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; and Rohm and Haas Company. At the time that Devlin tipped the other defendants about these companies, each company was confidentially engaged in a significant transaction that involved a merger, tender offer, or stock repurchase.

Devlin tipped Jamil Bouchareb, his friend and client at Lehman, about 12 of the deals. Bouchareb, a Miami Beach, Fla.-based trader, traded in his own accounts and tipped his friends and business partners. He also caused his parents to trade.

Bouchareb's tippees include his friend and business partner, Daniel Corbin, who traded in a number of the deals through accounts in the name of his companies, Augustus Management LLC and Corbin Investment Holdings LLC. Corbin, a Miami-based trader, shared some of the profits he made with Bouchareb. Bouchareb and Corbin also shared an interest in a number of accounts that traded in the deals. In turn, Corbin provided the information to his father Lee Corbin, an attorney based in White Plains, N.Y. Lee Corbin traded in his personal accounts in four of the deals and owned an interest in the Corbin Investment Holdings account that Daniel used to trade in the deals. Bouchareb and Corbin introduced Devlin to Lee Corbin, who steered Devlin business from some of his trusts and estates clients. Bouchareb also provided the information to his girlfriend, Maria Checa, who currently resides in Greensboro, N.C. Checa traded in her accounts, Checa International, Inc. and Playmate Capital LLC. Bouchareb shared in some of the profits that Checa made. In total, Bouchareb, Daniel Corbin, Lee Corbin, Maria Checa and Bouchareb's parents reaped illegal profits of more than $4.2 million.

Devlin, Bouchareb, Daniel Corbin, Bowers, Faulhaber, Holzer, Glover, Corbin Investment Holdings, LLC and Augustus Management, LLC are charged with violating Sections 10(b) and 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3. The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of illicit profits with prejudgment interest, and financial penalties. Checa, Checa International, Inc. and Lee Corbin are charged as relief defendants and the SEC seeks their trading profits.