A Massachusetts' man's dream in which a deceased relative told him that she was "safe" continues to make his life miserable. Stupid dream!!
Carl Binette explained to the SEC that he bought Safeco call options shortly before Safeco was acquired because of the "safe" dream. The SEC did not buy that story and sued Binette for insider trading. Even worse for Binette, federal prosecutors from the DOJ also did not buy that story and charged Binette with obstruction of justice for making false statements to the SEC during the agency's investigation.
The most recent fallout from this costly dream is that on Tuesday, the judge overseeing the SEC case entered a final judgment against Binette and a co-defendant "finding them jointly and severally liable for a $615,000 disgorgement, plus prejudgment interest of $76,235.28, for a total payment of $691,235.28, and ordering Binette and Talbot to each pay a $1,845,000 civil money penalty." Given that Binette told the court late last year that he could not afford to hire a lawyer, it is unclear how he might be able to come up with the millions needed to satisfy this judgment.
Based on the recent SEC Litigation Release, it looks like the criminal case against Binette is still ongoing up in Massachusetts.