Former Funcom CEO under investigation for insider trading after company stock falls

Former Funcom CEO Trond Aas is under investigation for inside trading after a sharp plummet in the value of the company's stock.

Former Funcom CEO Trond Aas is under investigation for insider trading after a sharp plummet in the value of the company's stock, reports NewsWeb.no.

Aas stepped down to a strategic advising role the day before the company launched its massively multiplayer online role-playing game The Secret World. In removing himself from the higher ranks, Aas became eligible to sell his Funcom shares without having the sale publicly announced to the the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Aas was able to sell 650,000 of his 1.5 million shares when he left on July 2nd, with the company's stock sitting at $17.60. As of yesterday, Funcom shares are worth $2.17. The sharp dip in price lead to Norweign authorities investigating Aas for insider trading.

Aas stated that he has traded the stock before, and that the timing of his most recent exchange was pure luck. He also claims that he was aware of The Secret World's poor sales until Funcom released its August 10th financial update.

Late last month, Funcom was hit with a round of layoffs that included The Secret World's lead designer.