Securities: Spouse of Amgen Exec Charged With Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission says that it has filed securities fraud charges against the husband of a top executive at the biotechnology company Amgen Inc. Gary K. Melton is said to have misused confidential information from his wife, Amgen's vice president of strategic sourcing and procurement. The SEC does not mention Melton's wife, Farryn Melton, in the case.

Spouse of Amgen Exec Charged With Fraud

The complaint says that Gary Melton told his wife in November 2005 that he might buy some Abgenix stock after seeing positive results from the study of an antibody that was designed by researchers from both Amgen and Abgenix. Gary Melton reaped $15,252 from his trades, says the SEC. Melton has agreed to pay $31,000 in order to settle the fraud charges without denying or admitting any wrongdoing. Melton's attorney, Andrew Holmes, said that Melton was happy that the case was over and reiterated that Melton's wife never gave him any information. "This was him doing something he shouldn't have done, actually directly against her instructions," Holmes said.