Briefly

ChoicePoint Inc., a provider of consumer credit reports, was sued in Atlanta federal court by stockholders who accused top executives of insider trading after 145,000 consumer records were stolen from its computers.

ChoicePoint, which disclosed the breach of its systems last month, is accused in two investor class-action lawsuits filed Tuesday of hiding the theft from both investors and the consumers whose identities were stolen.

Chief Executive Derek Smith, Chief Operating Officer Doug Curling and Chief Information Officer Darryl Lemecha are named in the suit. Smith and Curling are accused of insider trading for selling more than $18 million of stock before making the theft public Feb. 15. The investors said all three gave “false and misleading” information to the public about company security between November 2003 and March 2005.

The executives did not return a call for comment. The company has said Smith and Curling’s sales were part of a board-approved plan.

ChoicePoint shares rose 46 cents Thursday to $40.01 on the New York Stock Exchange.