Mark Cuban Heads To Trial In Insider Trading Case

Mark Cuban is facing a Shark Tank of different proportions this week, as the Mavericks‘ owner heads to court in an insider training case.

While Mark Cuban has hit it big on the show, which centers on real-life corporate ruthlessness, the boss is dealing with one of the less glamorous aspects of being a HBIC — allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission of out of bounds plays.

The case hinges on a phone call back in 2004, and the unloading of shares in a company about to tank. Cuban sold off 600,000 shares of the company allegedly following the phone call, and USAToday reports:

“Cuban is accused of using insider information to dump his stock in a small Internet-search company in 2004 just before the shares fell in value. He avoided $750,000 in losses. The Securities and Exchange Commission wants Cuban to give up the money and pay a civil penalty.”

Back in 2009, a federal judge declined to try the case, but that decision was overturned on appeal. Now James Meyers, a former SEC enforcement attorney, says that Cuban must charm the jurors and influence them to overlook his actions — which appear to be largely under the purview of the jury in terms of legality.

Meyers says that if Cuban makes a favorable impression on the jury, the case could be decided in his favor:

“A lot of it will come down to how Cuban comes across… I would tell him to come across as humble and affable and not as master of the universe.”

A few years back, Mark Cuban counter-alleged that the SEC targeted him due to his political persuasion and high profile. Investigators found some evidence to support his claim.