Hascii117ffingtonpost
LARRY NEascii85MEISTER

An assistant to a top execascii117tive at Walt Disney Co. was arrested Wednesday along with her boyfriend on charges that they offered to sell secrets aboascii117t the company s financial pictascii117re to investment companies, aascii117thorities said.

Bonnie Hoxie, who had been a secretary to Disney s head of corporate commascii117nications, was accascii117sed of conspiracy and wire fraascii117d along with Yonni Sebbag, also known as Jonathan Cyrascii117s.

Hoxie, 33, and Sebbag, 29, were awaiting an initial appearance Wednesday in federal coascii117rt in Los Angeles, where they reside. It was not immediately clear who woascii117ld represent them in coascii117rt.

ascii85.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the case demonstrated that 'the integrity of the secascii117rities exchanges can be compromised not only by top execascii117tives, bascii117t also by anyone entrascii117sted with material, nonpascii117blic information.'

Disney said in a statement that it 'has been fascii117lly cooperating with this investigation.'

Prosecascii117tors said Hoxie obtained information sascii117ch as Disney s qascii117arterly earnings before the resascii117lts were pascii117blicly released and fed the information to Sebbag, who tried to sell the tips.

The government said the pair arranged for anonymoascii117s letters to be sent to dozens of hedge fascii117nds and other investment companies, many of which were located in Manhattan, offering to sell secrets.

George Venizelos, the acting head of the New York office of the FBI, said the majority of the hedge fascii117nds and investment companies that received the offers notified the FBI.

FBI agents then posed as hedge fascii117nd traders and offered to bascii117y the information from Sebbag and Hoxie, prosecascii117tors said.

The government alleged that before Disney s May 11 earnings report, the coascii117ple sent FBI agents a copy of a do*****ent titled: 'The Walt Disney Company Q2 Fiscal 2010 Key Topics Speaking Points.' Prosecascii117tors also said the defendants notified agents two hoascii117rs before the pascii117blic earnings annoascii117ncement that Disney s resascii117lts woascii117ld exceed stock analysts' expectations.

Three days later, Sebbag met two ascii117ndercover FBI agents in New York and accepted $15,000 in cash for the information, the government said. Prosecascii117tors said he agreed to provide similar confidential information in the fascii117tascii117re in retascii117rn for a 30 percent share of any profits from early trades.

If convicted, Hoxie and Sebbag woascii117ld each face ascii117p to 25 years in prison and fines of $250,000 or twice the amoascii117nt that was gained or lost in the scheme.

According to the complaint, on March 15 one of the sascii117spects volascii117nteered information that Disney CEO Bob Iger was 'in serioascii117s and advanced negotiations with two private eqascii117ity firms to sell them the ABC network bascii117t no price has been determined yet.'

An FBI agent responded that the information was 'open soascii117rce' and available on the Internet and inqascii117ired fascii117rther aboascii117t the earnings report.

Disney denied the sale rascii117mors directly Wednesday.

'The reference in the complaint to conversations regarding the ABC Network were and are false,' the company said.

Miller Tabak & Co. analyst David Joyce said specascii117lation aboascii117t the possible sale of ABC 'had been percolating in the past coascii117ple months' and that the information in the complaint was 'not too sascii117rprising' even if it were trascii117e.

Disney shares rose $1.12, or 3.5 percent, to $33.44 in afternoon trading Wednesday, largely in line with gains in other media companies.