Poor Mickey. He must be appalled that confidential Walt Disney Company information was offered for sale to several investment firms including private equity firms in the U.S. and abroad. Bonnie Hoxie, an executive assistant to the Head of Corporate Communications at Disney, and Yonni Sebbag, Hoxie’s boyfriend, unfortunately offered to sell confidential information to an undercover FBI agent for $15,000. Hoxie and Sebbag were arrested in Los Angeles before they were able to actually sell the confidential Disney information including quarterly earnings, and purported “tips” on alleged efforts to sell the ABC television network to private equity firms. Both Hoxie and Sebbag were charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Hoxie and Sebbag. The complaint alleged that Hoxie and Sebbag sent anonymous letters to more than 20 U.S. and European hedge funds, offering pre-release of Disney second quarter 2010 results in exchange for a fee. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of at least $250,000. The developing story is available here.Lydie Nadia Cabrera Pierre-Louis
Is this true? Mickey is sitll the original prince of Disney!
ReplyDeleteHey, Prof. Peirre-Louis,
ReplyDeleteI've been gone for awhile, freaking out over the bar, but I hope look forward to returning to my rants soon. I realize that this comment does not have anything to do with the article, but I thought everyone would be interested in knowing, that Enron Super Star Jefferey Skilling, featured in the Movie "The Smartest Man in the Room", had his conviction reversed by the Supreme Court yesterday (although it was remanded). Man these guys are good.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704911704575326644174012942.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
Hope all is well and can't wait to be done with the Bar!
- Steve Newbold
Hi Prof.
ReplyDeleteI thought i would comment and let you know that Hoxie plead guilty to the charges. It was quite a smart move on her part (or that of her attorney) as the court is now saying that she could face up to 10 months in prison as opposed to 20 years had she plead not-guilty and gone to trial.
I always wonder why people that work for such high profile companies would think that they could get away with stuff like this.
It reminds me of the time that a Coke employee tried to sell the secret formula to Pepsi and was suprised when Pepsi allerted the authorities.
Anyway, just thought i would let you know.
Regards
Marc S.
Great Post! This was very interested because I like Mickey so when I saw it was related to Disney it caught my attention. This just goes to show that no matter how friendly and great a place may seem; their employers/employees may still be guilty of a crime. People need to be liable for their actions regardless of the type of business or reputation it may have. I hope the SEC went through with their initial allegations and made a recommendation to the commission. However many SEC violations end up in a settlement agreement inside of formal sanctions by the commission. I hope that justice was served and that these individuals if found guilty be sanctioned accordingly.
ReplyDeleteyou must be kidding, they are so rich! This company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel,
ReplyDeleteI can believe that those issues are happening in a company like that actually I've thought that as the other blogger said it should be a joke because I've heard that they have a lot of money to solve all those issues.
ReplyDelete