Jury clears man accused of insider trading

A federal jury in Santa Ana this month cleared a Corona del Mar man accused in a $134-million insider trading case.

In 2012, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission accused Manouchehr Moshayedi of participating in a lucrative scheme that involved him selling off millions of shares in STEC, a Santa Ana-based computer technology company where he was the CEO.

The SEC accused Moshayedi of selling the stock based on insider knowledge that demand for STEC’s flagship wasn’t as high as publicly stated.

When that information became public, after Moshayedi had sold his shares, STEC’s stock plummeted, according to the SEC.

The jury rejected the SEC’s claims June 6 after a 12-day trial.

A federal judge signed an order finalizing the verdict last week.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck