15 replies to this topic

[Zig]

breaking news on ESPN.

[Zig]

he dumped some stocks at just the right time or something. sounds like he's scrwed.

how much time did Martha get when she got busted?

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=3708124

[Zig]

DallasChief, on Nov 17 2008, 11:50 AM, said:

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=3708124

OK, my bad, acused, not charged...if someone could change the title....

I don't need him suing me

[ryno]

Zig, on Nov 17 2008, 11:49 AM, said:

he dumped some stocks at just the right time or something. sounds like he's scrwed.

how much time did Martha get when she got busted?

If my memory serves (It doesn't always), Martha went to jail for lying to the feds about the sale, not for the sale itself.

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

Zig, on Nov 17 2008, 11:04 AM, said:

OK, my bad, acused, not charged...if someone could change the title....

I don't need him suing me

Well, Sportscenter is saying charged.

[Zig]

DallasChief, on Nov 17 2008, 12:19 PM, said:

Well, Sportscenter is saying charged.

Yeah, I thought that's what I heard but your link said accused didn't it?

[penguin]

Zig, on Nov 17 2008, 11:04 AM, said:

OK, my bad, acused, not charged...if someone could change the title....

I don't need him suing me

article says charged.

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

Zig, on Nov 17 2008, 11:20 AM, said:

Yeah, I thought that's what I heard but your link said accused didn't it?

It did say accused but now it says charged.

[Zig]

penguin, on Nov 17 2008, 12:20 PM, said:

article says charged.

I wonder if that link would go to the updated story. I am pretty sure that it said accused earlier and I just clicked the link and the article had been updated at 12:12 which is after DC posted it...I could swear it was a different article earlier but I'm not really with it today lol

[Zig]

DallasChief, on Nov 17 2008, 12:22 PM, said:

It did say accused but now it says charged.

Ahhh, thank you! I thought I was losing my mind!

no jokes

[ryno]

Either way, it's civil not criminal. So no jail time for Marky Mark.

It does give MLB a reason to discount his bid for the Cubs, which rumors say is the best but that other owners don't want accepted.

[NOLA]

ryno, on Nov 17 2008, 02:45 PM, said:

Either way, it's civil not criminal. So no jail time for Marky Mark.

It does give MLB a reason to discount his bid for the Cubs, which rumors say is the best but that other owners don't want accepted.

The US Attorney's office just hasn't filed a criminal charge yet. It doesn't mean they won't. This is high profile enough, someone will probably pick it up as soon as Obama makes his appointments. It hasn't been done yet because there's no guarantee that any currently serving attorneys will get to stay on after January.

[ryno]

NOLA, on Nov 17 2008, 08:20 PM, said:

The US Attorney's office just hasn't filed a criminal charge yet. It doesn't mean they won't. This is high profile enough, someone will probably pick it up as soon as Obama makes his appointments. It hasn't been done yet because there's no guarantee that any currently serving attorneys will get to stay on after January.

Here's a question for you... If Cuban manages to start punching holes in the civil suit (not saying he will or can) does that mean he's clear of any criminal prosecution? I understand one does not attribute directly to the other, but don't civil suits have a much lower threshold of "proof"?

[NOLA]

ryno, on Nov 18 2008, 06:21 AM, said:

Here's a question for you... If Cuban manages to start punching holes in the civil suit (not saying he will or can) does that mean he's clear of any criminal prosecution? I understand one does not attribute directly to the other, but don't civil suits have a much lower threshold of "proof"?

The U.S. Attorney's office doesn't bring charges unless they're going to win. That's why they have a near 100% conviction rate.

Civil suits are generally decided by a preponderance of evidence standard, which is lower that the beyond a reasonable doubt required in criminal. That said, his punching holes in the civil trial might just be indicative of the fact that the SEC hired shitty attorneys, or it might be an indication he could beat criminal charges.

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

http://www.star-tele...ry/1053241.html

Saturday, Nov 22, 2008
Posted on Sat, Nov. 22, 2008
Mark Cuban, SEC attorney reportedly exchanged barbed e-mails


By BARRY SHLACHTER
barry@star-telegram.com
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and a Fort Worth-based attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission purportedly exchanged highly personal and politically charged e-mails last year when SEC regulators were investigating Cuban over suspicions of insider trading.
The e-mails were posted Friday on a Web site run by Cuban’s brother, Brian, who said he got them off a Wall Street Journal blog. Brian Cuban, an attorney, said he doesn’t know who leaked them.

The e-mails indicate that Mark Cuban and Jeffrey Norris, who was not involved in the investigation, traded barbs over Cuban’s plan — later abandoned — to help finance the release of a largely discredited documentary, Loose Change, which says the U.S. government was behind 9-11. Cuban distributes films as an owner of Magnolia Pictures and also owns HDNet and a chain of movie theaters.

Neither Norris nor Mark Cuban responded to requests to confirm the e-mails’ authenticity. The SEC told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that Norris was never involved in the investigation and that he is being reviewed for possible disciplinary actions.

In the exchange, Norris purportedly said he’d tell his children that Cuban "helps people who hurt our country and hates President Bush.  . . .  I think Mark Cuban is an evil man. He just doesn’t care enough about the truth to do what is right."

In another message, Norris told Cuban that his promotion of Loose Change was "an unpatriotic act."

"Either you are really an anti-American ideologue or your allegiance to making money is significantly greater than your dedication to your country," Norris wrote.

He then likened Cuban to director Michael Moore and actors Sean Penn and Jane Fonda. Norris signed off one message by pointedly telling Cuban, "We love the Lakers."

Cuban shot back: "Just hope your kids always share your viewpoints. Hate for you to have to disown them because they take a different perspective of social responsibility and personal morality than you do."

On Monday, the SEC accused Cuban of illegally selling his investment in Canadian search engine company Mamma.com after learning of a planned stock offering that would reduce the shares’ value. By selling his large holdings, he avoided a loss of $750,000, the commission says. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas.

The outspoken Mavericks owner denied the charges, saying the case was "the product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion."

Norris’ boss, SEC regional director Rose Romero, said she could not comment because of the ongoing case against Cuban. Romero reiterated that the case is being handled out of Washington, D.C., and that no one on her staff has played a role.

Bob Webster, a former U.S. attorney and an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University’s law school, said the Norris e-mails are an embarrassing setback for the government.

"This is a violation of attorney disciplinary rules in any state and undermines the credibility of the government’s case," said Webster, who has seen the e-mails. "If I was the SEC, I’d be very troubled — if the contacts were, in fact, true.

"Disclosing information and animus personalizes the government case against Cuban, and the government should never bring a case for personal reasons," said Webster, a partner in the Dallas firm of Fitzpatrick Hagood Smith and Uhl. "It should always be brought in the interest of justice."

Webster said the government views Cuban’s actions as classic illegal trading by an insider who is bound by confidentiality, even though Cuban says he never promised to keep the information to himself.

"As a matter of law, an insider cannot trade on the information," he said.

But Cuban might say he was acting as an investor whose business partner surprised him by a major change in direction by disclosing an impeding initial stock offering that dilutes the value of Cuban’s large stake, Webster said.

"The law is not on his side, but also is not against it," Webster said.

Dallas attorney Len Senerote, also of Fitzpatrick Hagood, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Cuban’s New York attorney had had the e-mails leaked. "That’s typical New York tactics," Senerote said. "They’re trying to put the prosecutor on trial and hope the judge allows it."