Vermilion Energy employee pays C$400,000 to Alberta regulator for insider trading

Dec 27 (Reuters) - An employee of Canadian oil and gas company Vermilion Energy paid the securities regulator C$400,000 ($302,755.07), more than double the profit made by insider trading, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) said on Wednesday.

Behjat Haghshenas, who was a senior reservoir specialist for Vermillion, admitted to illegal insider trading in the shares of oil and gas producer Leucrotta Exploration before its acquisition by Vermilion, according to the ASC.

Haghshenas has also agreed to a 10-year trading ban as part of a settlement agreement, the ASC said.

Vermilion bought Leucrotta for C$477 million in 2022.

"Haghshenas became aware of material facts about the potential acquisition that were not generally disclosed and she purchased Leucrotta shares while in possession of those facts," the securities regulator said, adding that Haghshenas sold her Leucrotta shares for a profit of C$146,400.

Vermilion did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. ($1 = 1.3212 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru)