Jonathan Fickies/Bloomberg NewsThe August 2010 issue of Playboy magazine.
Zack Seckler/Getty ImagesChristie Hefner and her husband, William Marovitz, in 2004.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the husband of Christie Hefner, accusing him of insider trading in Playboy Enterprises stock.
William A. Marovitz, the husband of Ms. Hefner, the former chief executive of Playboy, was accused of gaining $100,000 by trading on confidential information gleaned from his wife, according to a complaint filed Wednesday morning in Federal District Court in Chicago.
Mr. Marovitz, a former Illinois state senator, has agreed to pay $168,000 in penalties, disgorgement and interest to settle the civil case. His lawyer, James Streicker, did not return calls for comment.
“Despite instructions from his wife that he should not trade in shares of Playboy and a warning from the general counsel of Playboy about his buying or selling Playboy stock, Marovitz bought and sold shares of Playboy in his own brokerage accounts between 2004 and 2009 ahead of public news announcements,” said the complaint.
Among the news Mr. Marovitz traded on, according to the S.E.C.: Playboy’s negative earnings announcements, a stock offering and Playboy’s potential acquisition by the Iconix Brand Group.
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