(Adds details of case, background and comment from attorney)
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - A former 20-year veteran ofBP plc who oversaw the company's cleanup efforts from theDeepwater Horizon oil spill will pay more than $224,000 tosettle civil charges alleging he used non-public informationabout the disaster to commit insider-trading, U.S. regulatorssaid on Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Keith A.Seilhan, 47, will settle the case without admitting or denyingthe charges.
Mary McNamara, an attorney for Seilhan, said four years hadpassed since the spill, and her client wanted to "avoid furtherdistraction and protracted litigation" by settling the matter.
"Mr. Seilhan is widely respected for his work helping tolead the cleanup and containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexicoin 2010," McNamara added.
This marks the second case that the SEC has brought inconnection with the April 20, 2010, explosion aboard theDeepwater Horizon rig. The accident killed 11 workers and led tothe worst offshore spill in U.S. history.
In 2012, the SEC levied what at the time was thethird-largest penalty in agency history of $525 million againstBP over allegations it mislead investors about just how much oilwas gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
In this latest complaint, the SEC said Seilhan tookadvantage of the fact that he knew the true oil flow estimatesand other crucial data and used it to sell off his family's $1million portfolio of BP securities.
The sell-off allowed him to avoid losses of $100,000, theSEC added. After his trades were completed, the price of BPAmerican Depository Shares tanked by 48 percent over time.
"Corporate insiders must not misuse the material non-publicinformation they receive while responding to unique ordisastrous corporate events, even where they stand to sufferlosses as a consequence of those events," said Daniel Hawke, thehead of the SEC Enforcement Division's market abuse unit.
Of the amount that Seilhan will pay, $105,409 will go towarda civil penalty. Another $105,409 in ill-gotten gains will alsobe returned, and he will pay more than $13,000 in prejudgmentinterest. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Eric Beech)