Baseball Players Accused Of Insider Trading On Del Taco Acquisition: Report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly alleged that four current and former minor league baseball players traded illegally on Jack In The Box Inc‘s JACK $575 million acquisition of Del Taco Restaurants Inc.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Diego, the SEC claimed that Jordan Qsar, Austin Bernard, Grant Witherspoon, and Chase Lambert collectively made approximately $190,000 through trading before the purchase, reported Bloomberg.

The SEC also claimed that Qsar, informed by a former teammate at Pepperdine University, shared the inside information with Bernard, Witherspoon, and Lambert, who then purchased out-of-the-money call options on Del Taco stock.

Jack In The Box acquired Del Taco in 2021 for $12.51 per share in cash in a deal valued at about $575 million.

Despite the accusations, the SEC has not charged the unidentified Jack In The Box employee, nor the restaurant chains involved, with any wrongdoing.

A lawyer representing Jack In The Box stated that the company was unaware of the allegations and emphasized the existence of policies to prevent insider trading, as per the report.

The regulator aims to recover the profits and impose fines on the implicated players.

Last season, Qsar played for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A affiliate. Witherspoon recently signed with the Seattle Mariners minor league organization.

Bernard has signed to play baseball in India, while Lambert is currently employed as a coach and an electrician, the SEC revealed, as per the report.

Price Action: JACK shares closed higher by 2.88% at $68.57 on Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons