There’s no such thing as easy money in the oil and gas industry. Or ought not to be.And it’s certainly not the case for a former Calgary petroleum engineer who was fined $400,000 for insider trading by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC).The ASC said Wednesday that Behjat Haghshenas admitted to illegal trading in the shares of Leucrotta Exploration Inc. before a March 28, 2022 public announcement that it would be acquired by Calgary-based Vermillion Energy Inc for $500 million.At the time Haghshenas was a senior reservoir engineer for Vermillion when it was in discussions with Leucrotta about potentially acquiring the company. As such, she was the chief due diligence person responsible for assessing the value of the assets and “became aware of material facts about the potential acquisition that were not generally disclosed,” according to an agreed statement of facts..“It is a fundamental principle of securities regulation that all investors should have equal access to information necessary for informed investment decision making,”Alberta Securities Commission.Within minutes of becoming privy to the acquisition details on the morning of March 21, 2022, Haghshenas began placing orders to purchase Leucrotta shares in her spouse’s personal trading account. Although her spouse had sole trading authority over the account, he allowed Haghshenas to trade in it. She later stated that she did not communicate with her spouse or otherwise make him aware of her trading activity in the account..Haghshenas then placed an order to sell all of the 265,000 Leucrotta shares that she purchased on March 21 for $1.87 per share — or $495,550 — and turned a profit of $146,400 before the market even opened..On March 23 Vermillion and Leucrotta signed a formal ‘Letter of Intent’ to proceed with the sale. Then on March 28, before the market opened for the day, Vermillion and Leucrotta each issued news releases announcing that Vermillion would acquire the latter for $500 million, or $1.73 per share.Haghshenas then placed an order to sell all of the 265,000 Leucrotta shares that she purchased on March 21 for $1.87 per share — or $495,550 — and turned a profit of $146,400 before the market even opened.During the subsequent investigation, the ASC said Haghshenas made numerous statements to the commission “ that were, in a material respect and at the time and in light of the circumstances in which they were made, misleading or untrue.”In addition to the fine, Haghshenas was ordered to pay $53,600 in costs and slapped with a 10-year trading ban.“It is a fundamental principle of securities regulation that all investors should have equal access to information necessary for informed investment decision making,” the ASC said.
There’s no such thing as easy money in the oil and gas industry. Or ought not to be.And it’s certainly not the case for a former Calgary petroleum engineer who was fined $400,000 for insider trading by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC).The ASC said Wednesday that Behjat Haghshenas admitted to illegal trading in the shares of Leucrotta Exploration Inc. before a March 28, 2022 public announcement that it would be acquired by Calgary-based Vermillion Energy Inc for $500 million.At the time Haghshenas was a senior reservoir engineer for Vermillion when it was in discussions with Leucrotta about potentially acquiring the company. As such, she was the chief due diligence person responsible for assessing the value of the assets and “became aware of material facts about the potential acquisition that were not generally disclosed,” according to an agreed statement of facts..“It is a fundamental principle of securities regulation that all investors should have equal access to information necessary for informed investment decision making,”Alberta Securities Commission.Within minutes of becoming privy to the acquisition details on the morning of March 21, 2022, Haghshenas began placing orders to purchase Leucrotta shares in her spouse’s personal trading account. Although her spouse had sole trading authority over the account, he allowed Haghshenas to trade in it. She later stated that she did not communicate with her spouse or otherwise make him aware of her trading activity in the account..Haghshenas then placed an order to sell all of the 265,000 Leucrotta shares that she purchased on March 21 for $1.87 per share — or $495,550 — and turned a profit of $146,400 before the market even opened..On March 23 Vermillion and Leucrotta signed a formal ‘Letter of Intent’ to proceed with the sale. Then on March 28, before the market opened for the day, Vermillion and Leucrotta each issued news releases announcing that Vermillion would acquire the latter for $500 million, or $1.73 per share.Haghshenas then placed an order to sell all of the 265,000 Leucrotta shares that she purchased on March 21 for $1.87 per share — or $495,550 — and turned a profit of $146,400 before the market even opened.During the subsequent investigation, the ASC said Haghshenas made numerous statements to the commission “ that were, in a material respect and at the time and in light of the circumstances in which they were made, misleading or untrue.”In addition to the fine, Haghshenas was ordered to pay $53,600 in costs and slapped with a 10-year trading ban.“It is a fundamental principle of securities regulation that all investors should have equal access to information necessary for informed investment decision making,” the ASC said.
