SEC accuses CdM man of insider trading

The chairman and chief executive of a Santa Ana-based computer technology company faces charges of insider trading stemming from the sale of 9 million shares of stock.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Corona del Mar resident Manouchehr Moshayedi of STEC and his brother each made about $134 million from selling stock in the company after the stock soared 800% between January and August 2009.

STEC’s rapid growth resulted from increased reported revenue and sales of its “flagship” product, the ZeusIOPS, a solid-state drive, the SEC asserts in its July 19 filing.

But in August 2009, Moshayedi allegedly learned two key pieces of information not available to the public that showed the true demand for the ZeusIOPS was lower than anticipated, the complaint says.

In November 2009 the information Moshayedi knew came to light, and stocks in STEC plummeted 38.9% from $23.15 on Nov. 3 to $14.14 on Nov. 4, the SEC claims.

The SEC is seeking to permanently bar Moshayedi from holding any officer or director positions with a registered public company. The federal agency also wants to take away the profits he and his brother made, plus penalties and interest.

Moshayedi’s brother is not named as a defendant in the complaint.

STEC spokesman Jerry Steach said that “this is an SEC issue,” but would not comment further on the company’s current operations.

Moshayedi could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

lauren.williams@latimes.com

Twitter: @lawilliams30