Assets Frozen in CompUSA Dispute

U.S. securities regulators said Friday that they received a temporary restraining order against eight Mexicans accused of insider trading in CompUSA stock before the U.S. computer retailer was acquired by a Mexican conglomerate.

The order freezes more than $6 million in assets of the eight who allegedly traded in CompUSA before the Jan. 24, 2000, public announcement that the company had agreed to be acquired by Mexico’s Grupo Sanborns, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

Grupo Sanborns is a holding company with interests in real estate, music, retail and restaurants,

and is a division of Mexican conglomerate Grupo Carso, part of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s business empire.

One of the defendants, Alejandro Duclaud, is a partner in the Mexico City law firm that represented Grupo Sanborns in the final days of the CompUSA tender offer talks and he acts as outside counsel to Grupo Sanborns, the SEC said.

Also accused were Duclaud’s wife and brother, as well as other relatives.