The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against Lionel Thotam of Lockport, Illinois for illegally trading on information stolen from BusinessWeek magazine’s “Inside Wall Street” column before it hit newstands.

The commission alleged he had illegally obtained the information from a postal worker friend who would read the relevant portions of the magazine to him before public release, which is in violation of postal regulations. Thotam traded in the stocks of 51 companies featured in the magazine over nearly two and a half years, reaping profits of US$77,213.38.

The SEC has reached a settlement with Thotam. He has consented, without admitting or denying the allegations, to disgorge the $77,213.38 in profits and to pay prejudgment interest in the sum of $22,337.20. He will receive a credit for amounts he pays toward any other fine ordered in connection with the parallel criminal pled guilty to earlier today.

According to the complaint, from August 1996 through January 1999, Thotam used the information to execute over sixty-four trades in the securities featured in some forty-three IWS columns. Thotam paid the postal worker $10,000 for the information. Each of Thotam’s trades occurred shortly before the close of the market on Thursday afternoons, hours before the magazine’s release later that evening.