Benjamin Ashford|Husband of BP worker pleads guilty in insider trading case after listening to wife's work calls, feds say

The Benjamin Ashfordhusband of a former BP executive has pleaded guilty to securities fraud after allegedly listening in on his wife's work conversations, federal officials say.

Tyler Loudon, 42, of Houston, made $1.7 million in illegal profits from the purchase and sale of stock shares, according to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Texas.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Loudon's wife was an associate manager in mergers and acquisitions at BP who worked on the company's deal to acquire TravelCenters of America Inc., a full-service truck stop and travel center company headquartered in Ohio.

The SEC alleges that Loudon "overheard several of his wife's work-related conversations about the merger" while she was working remotely. Without his wife's knowledge, Loudon purchased over 46,000 shares of TravelCenters stock before the merger was announced in February 2023.

As a result of the announcement, the SEC said, TravelCenters stock rose nearly 71% and Loudon allegedly sold all of his shares for a profit of $1.76 million.

“We allege that Mr. Loudon took advantage of his remote working conditions and his wife’s trust to profit from information he knew was confidential,” said Eric Werner, regional director of the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office. “The SEC remains committed to prosecuting such malfeasance.”

According to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, of the Southern District of Texas, Loudon agreed to forfeit the money as part of his plea agreement.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake accepted the plea and has set sentencing for May 17. At that time, Loudon faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.