Hamptons butler accused of insider trading

Seems like you just can't get good honest domestics these days:  The SEC accused Graham Lefford, the former Hamptons butler of media and entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, of insider trading after he bought shares of a company that his former employer was acquiring.

Lefford, 44, turned his $600 investment into a $48,525 profit when he later sold the shares, the agency said.

On August 12, 2004 Lefford called his broker to purchase 5,000 shares of Sports Entertainment Enterprises, Inc., minutes after faxing a confidential document for his employer, media and entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, from a poolside office, according to an SEC lawsuit filed in U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York.

At the time, Sillerman, whose properties include the TV hit "American Idol" was trying to acquire a controlling interest in the company to use it as a vehicle to acquire the commercial rights to Elvis Presley's name and likeness, the agency said.

"Lefford's use of the confidential information he obtained about the ... acquisition to trade securities for his own benefit breached an express duty of trust and confidence that he owed to Sillerman under a written confidentiality agreement that covered all information that Lefford learned about," the SEC said.

US butler accused of insider trading on poolside faxes - Reuters