SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Three current and former minor league baseball players have been charged in San Diego with insider trading involving Del Taco stock, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Jordan Joseph Qsar, 28; Grant Lee Witherspoon, 27; and Austin Lane Bernard, 28, are accused of purchasing Del Taco stock, then selling the shares because Qsar learned that Jack in the Box was acquiring Del Taco, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Qsar allegedly learned of the acquisition through a friend who personally worked on the Del Taco deal as a senior associate in Jack in the Box's strategic finance department.
Qsar then allegedly shared that information with Witherspoon and Bernard, whom he knew through playing minor league baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays' system and college baseball at Pepperdine University.
The trio then allegedly purchased Del Taco stock and sold it in the days after the acquisition went public in late 2021, netting them between $41,800 and $64,600.
"The system has to be fair for everyone, or the market fails," San Diego U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. "Those who seek to undermine this system for personal gain will face consequences."
