Mark Cuban, the Texas billionaire and basketball team owner, went to federal court in Dallas yesterday, seeking to persuade a judge to throw out for a second time a lawsuit accusing him of insider trading.
Judge Sidney Fitzwater will hear arguments on Cuban’s request, filed with the court in July, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s opposition registered with the court a month later. The year after Fitzwater dismissed the case in 2009, a federal appeals court in New Orleans reinstated the litigation against Cuban.
The SEC sued Cuban in 2008, accusing him of making illegal trades in shares of Mamma.com in June 2004, based on inside information from its then-CEO, Guy Faure.
Cuban says what Faure told him wasn’t secret. “After years of the SEC’s investigation of Mr. Cuban and discovery in this case, there is not a shred of evidence of a confidentiality agreement between Mr. Cuban and Mamma,” defense lawyers argued on July 13.
The SEC claims Cuban sold his 6.3 percent stake for about $7.9 million within hours of talking to Faure.
This followed his telling Faure during a June 28, 2004, phone call, “Well, now I’m screwed. I can’t sell,” according to the SEC.
In addition to the Dallas Mavericks, Cuban, 54, owns the HDNet high-definition TV channel and the Landmark Theater chain.
Earlier this month, the NBA fined Cuban $50,000 for tweeting critical comments about game officials.