U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 25956 / March 26, 2024
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jordan Qsar, Grant Witherspoon, Austin Bernard, and Chase Lambert, No. 3:24-cv-00570 AJB BLM (S.D. Cal. filed Mar. 26, 2024)
SEC Charges One Current, Three Former Minor League Baseball Players with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges today against one current and three former minor league baseball players who made about $189,000 in profits from trading in advance of the December 6, 2021 announcement that Jack in the Box Inc. would acquire Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in San Diego, a finance employee at Jack in the Box, who is not charged, shared information about the acquisition with his friend and then minor league baseball player, Jordan Qsar. The complaint alleges that the finance employee expected Qsar to keep the information confidential, but instead, Qsar purchased Del Taco call options and tipped others, including his teammate at the time and current minor league player, Grant Witherspoon, former teammate and then minor league player, Austin Bernard, and former teammate and friend, Chase Lambert, all of whom purchased similar call options. The SEC alleges that Qsar made about $56,500, Witherspoon made about $42,800, Bernard made about $64,700, and Lambert made about $25,100 in illegal trading profits.
The case originated from the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious trading patterns.
The SEC’s complaint charges Qsar, Witherspoon, Bernard, and Lambert with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against all four defendants.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Sara Kalin of the Market Abuse Unit, with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center. The case is being supervised by Assistant Regional Director Diana Tani and Market Abuse Unit Chief Joseph Sansone. The litigation will be led by Charles Canter of the Los Angeles Regional Office.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).