Two face 38 insider dealing charges

TWO Hertfordshire men each faced 38 charges of insider dealing stretching back to 1997 when they appeared at Marylebone Court in London on Monday.

Stephen Ziff, 28, and Stuart Neil Ronson, 57 - both listed as living at The Avenue, Radlett - are accused of buying and selling shares in four firms contrary to Section 52 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. Their court appearance followed a Department of Trade and Industry investigation after information was passed on by the London Stock Exchange. The case was adjourned until 25 March.

Both men face charges relating to alleged dealing in shares of IT companies Lorien and Skills Group (now called QA), alarms firm Tunstall and pipeline products group Oliver Ashworth.

The first case accuses Ziff, while in Manchester on or about 27 October, 1997, of having 'inside information as an insider' in Lorien which he is said to have disclosed to Ronson resulting in the purchase by Ronson of 3,200 shares at 417p a share. In all, Ziff faces 15 charges relating to Lorien involving the sale or purchase of 33,600 shares.

Another series of charges involving 85,000 shares relate to transactions in Tunstall. The charges include passing information to Ronson resulting in the purchase of 5,000 shares on 22 April, 1998, at 123p and a similar purchase at the same price on the same day. A final charge involves the purchase of 10,000 shares at 132p on 5 May.

Tunstall was taken over for £53m after a 160p-a-share bid on 19 May. Ziff - a former banker at NM Rothschild - also faces five charges involving dealing in a total of 30,000 shares in Skills Group and four cases involving 20,000 shares in Oliver Ashworth.

Ashworth was taken over for £34m by French building materials group Saint-Gobain in 1998. Ronson faces 38 related charges.

Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt passed responsibility for insider dealing cases over to the Financial Services Authority on 1 December, but cases predating this are handled by the DTI.