Shipwreck, treasure, insider trading -- an SEC tale

By Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When an exploration team member discovered an anomaly on the ocean floor that turned out to be a $500 million shipwreck, he found a way to get his own share of the booty -- insider trading, according to the U.S. regulators who nabbed him.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday that Ernesto Tapanes, 39, agreed to pay more than $216,000 to settle insider trading charges in the case involving the 18th century shipwreck, code-named Black Swan.

The SEC said Tapanes was working for Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (OMEX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as an oceanographic surveying consultant in March 2007 when he identified and photographed an anomaly off the coast of Gibraltar.

Excavation efforts soon uncovered more than $500 million worth of silver and gold coins, the largest collection of coins ever excavated from a historical shipwreck site, the SEC said.

The shipwreck is the subject of a federal lawsuit, with Spain contending it is entitled to the treasure if it comes from one of its sunken ships, or if the treasure was removed from its territorial waters.

A federal judge ruled earlier this month that Odyssey Marine must reveal to Spain the exact location of the shipwreck and the items recovered from it.

At the time of Tapanes' discovery, the company kept the Black Swan a closely guarded secret for weeks and required its workers to sign a confidentiality agreement and to not trade in company stock.

The SEC said Tapanes signed the agreement on April 4, 2007, and that same day started buying Odyssey Marine stock through his E*Trade account.