By Harry R. Weber, AP Business Writer
ChoicePoint's Top Two Executives Sold Shares Before Breach Was Made Public, Filings Show
As far as I am concerned, if Martha Stewart can go to jail for $40,000.00, for what these guys did, it should be a lot longer.
ATLANTA (AP) -- ChoicePoint Inc.'s top two executives made a combined $16.6 million in profit from selling company shares in the months after the data warehouser learned that people's personal information may have been compromised and before the breach was made public, regulatory filings show.
ChoicePoint's stock has dropped about 10 percent since last week when the company announced that criminals had duped it into allowing them access to its massive database.
Alpharetta, Ga.-based ChoicePoint says the stock trading was pre-arranged under a plan approved by the company's board. Corporate governance experts say the pattern and timing of the trading by chief executive Derek Smith and president Douglas Curling raises questions.
Securities and Exchange Commission spokesman John Heine declined to say Friday whether the agency is investigating.
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