Murray pays more than $300K to SEC

By foxsports
Published

Hall of Fame baseball player Eddie Murray has agreed to pay $358,151 to settle federal civil charges of profiting in stock trades by using confidential information passed to him by a former teammate.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday also announced related charges against James Mazzo, former CEO of Advanced Medical Optics, and businessman David Parker. The SEC said Mazzo provided illegal tips about a planned acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics by Abbott Laboratories in January 2009.

Mazzo passed the information to Murray's former teammate Doug DeCinces, who tipped off Murray and Parker, the SEC alleges in a civil lawsuit.

DeCinces settled the SEC's charges a year ago by agreeing to pay $2.5 million.

Murray, who retired in 1997, neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing but agreed to refrain from future violations of securities laws.

The SEC is still pursuing its cases against Mazzo and Parker.

Mazzo is now president of Abbott Medical Optics Inc. Through his attorney, Mazzo said he ''flatly and unequivocally denies the SEC's allegations.''

The attorney, Richard Marmaro, said in a statement: ''We are confident that an independent, objective fact-finder will fully exonerate Mr. Mazzo after a fair evaluation of all of the evidence.''

Murray's lawyer, Michael Proctor, noted that his client didn't admit wrongdoing in the settlement. Murray ''has settled this to put the case to an end and get on with his life,'' Proctor said.

An attorney for Parker didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

The amount Murray is paying consists of:

- A $117,657 civil penalty.

- $235,314 in restitution - the sum of his alleged illegal profits.

- $5,180 in interest.

Murray, 56, who lives in Santa Clarita, Calif., was a first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles from 1977 to 1988. After DeCinces left the Orioles, he and Murray maintained a close friendship, according to the SEC.

The agency said that Mazzo, 55, and DeCinces also were close friends and lived in the same exclusive community in Laguna Beach, Calif., where Mazzo lives.