National Basketball Association

SEC watchdog finds no merit to Cuban's claims

Published Sep. 30, 2011 3:50 p.m. ET

foxsports

A watchdog report says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has no grounds to claim that Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys engaged in misconduct in an insider trading case against him.

The SEC's inspector general's office says in a report issued Friday there wasn't enough evidence to support Cuban's claims. They include allegations that agency attorneys notified him of possible civil charges before their investigation was complete.

The SEC filed charges against him in November 2008, accusing him of avoiding a $750,000 loss in 2004 by selling shares of Internet search company Mamma.com after receiving confidential information about a private stock offering.

Cuban has fought the SEC charges and sued the commission in May 2009. Last September, a federal appeals court revived the SEC's lawsuit against the billionaire.