The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against a Perot Systems investor alleging insider trading around the company's pending sale to Dell.
The agency said in its complaint that Reza Saleh made large purchases of Perot call option contracts, set to expire in October and in January 2010, and alleges those purchases were based on material, nonpublic information he acquired in his work with the company. Saleh, who lives in Richardson, Texas, sold all 9,332 call option contracts for $8.6 million after Dell announced its planned $3.8 billion acquisition of Plano, Texas-based Perot, according to the SEC complaint. The company's stock price jumped about 65% after the sale was announced.
The complaint also names Amir Saleh, also of Richardson, as a "relief defendant" in order to recover funds because his name appears as a co-account holder on one of Reza Selah's accounts.
The SEC is seeking an order to freeze Reza Saleh's assets and require him to pay financial penalties.
