The internal watchdog at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded that the accusations of investigative misconduct against the enforcement division by Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban have no merit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The SEC sued Cuban in 2008 for insider trading, alleging that he had sold his 6.3 percent stake in Mamma.com in June 2004 after learning confidentially that the Montreal-based search engine company was planning a stock offering. The SEC said Cuban’s sale allowed him to avoid more than $750,000 of losses.

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(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Editing by Sandra Maler)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The internal watchdog at the Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded that the accusations of investigative misconduct against the enforcement division by Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban have no merit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The SEC sued Cuban in 2008 for insider trading, alleging that he had sold his 6.3 percent stake in Mamma.com in June 2004 after learning confidentially that the Montreal-based search engine company was planning a stock offering. The SEC said Cuban’s sale allowed him to avoid more than $750,000 of losses.

The case was initially dropped in July 2009 by a federal judge who ruled that Cuban did not qualify as an insider. But last September, Cuban was ordered to face the charges by a federal appeals court, reviving the high-profile insider trading case.

In both court filings and in complaints to the SEC’s inspector general, Cuban had claimed that he was unfairly treated by SEC enforcement attorneys.

He accused the SEC of conducting the probe in “an unfair, biased, and improper manner designed to prevent him from successfully persuading the SEC not to bring an enforcement action.”

His complaints include that investigators pursued the case with bias, intimidated a witness and abused the “Wells notice” process, which is the method the SEC uses to alert targets of probes that the agency may bring charges against them.

In a recently completed report that examined Cuban’s claims, SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz concluded that Cuban’s allegations have no merit, according to a person familiar with the report. The person declined to be named because the findings have not yet been made public.

An attorney for Cuban and the SEC’s inspector general could not be immediately reached for comment. John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC, declined to comment.

Kotz’s findings mark the latest setback for Cuban in his defense against the insider-trading charges.

In July, U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater tossed out one of Cuban’s defenses in the case, ruling that Cuban failed to show that the SEC had investigated him improperly.

Had the judge ruled in his favor, he would have then been allowed to argue that the SEC had “unclean hands.”

At the time of the ruling, however, the judge did not take any position on whether or not Cuban’s allegations of misconduct had merit.

In a previous interview with Reuters, Cuban’s attorney Lyle Roberts had called the ruling a “minor” issue, saying Cuban still has a long list of other defenses.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Editing by Sandra Maler)

On Wednesday night, the sports universe celebrated itself with the annual ESPYs, a barrel of awards and yucks presided over by Seth “Mr. Comedy” Meyers. There were NBA lockout zings and a good time was had by all.

However, the Dallas Mavericks’ win in the Best Team (the biggest award of the night, I think, although who really knows) created a bit of controversy. When the team won, assorted players, including Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and Finals participant Brian Cardinal(notes), went up on stage to give awkward speeches. But they were also joined by team owner Mark Cuban, which means everyone exchanged handshakes and some short congratulations.

By the NBA’s lockout rules, Cuban should be fined for these interactions. However, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller got word from an NBA spokesman that Cuban got clearance to fraternize with the enemy beforehand.

As in the case of Heat brass attending Chris Bosh’s wedding, it seems as if the NBA is willing to make exceptions for important personal events or unavoidable public interactions, especially if those events involve corporate partners that pay the league billions of dollars for television rights. Still, it’s a little unclear to me why certain interactions are allowed and others are not. For instance, a wedding is certainly a major event in a person’s life, and his friends should be around to celebrate. But shouldn’t those same friends be allowed to send each other messages on their birthdays?

It’s nice that the NBA allows some interaction, but they are still creating arbitrary distinctions between what kinds of relationships are important and which aren’t. It’s one thing to be in a protracted labor dispute. Acting as if those same people should stop treating each other like human beings goes too far.

Whatever the case, I’m glad the Mavs got to hang out with Jason Bateman. I hear Cubes is a big fan of “Valerie’s Family.”

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• The ‘Supermom’ who leads Team USA
• Rivals’ Top 25 college football players of the decade • Mom embarrasses HS star son in middle of game

Related: Brian Cardinal, Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks, Video, Lockout videos

On Wednesday night, the sports universe celebrated itself with the annual ESPYs, a barrel of awards and yucks presided over by Seth “Mr. Comedy” Meyers. There were NBA lockout zings and a good time was had by all.

However, the Dallas Mavericks’ win in the Best Team (the biggest award of the night, I think, although who really knows) created a bit of controversy. When the team won, assorted players, including Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and Finals participant Brian Cardinal(notes), went up on stage to give awkward speeches. But they were also joined by team owner Mark Cuban, which means everyone exchanged handshakes and some short congratulations.

By the NBA’s lockout rules, Cuban should be fined for these interactions. However, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller got word from an NBA spokesman that Cuban got clearance to fraternize with the enemy beforehand.

As in the case of Heat brass attending Chris Bosh’s wedding, it seems as if the NBA is willing to make exceptions for important personal events or unavoidable public interactions, especially if those events involve corporate partners that pay the league billions of dollars for television rights. Still, it’s a little unclear to me why certain interactions are allowed and others are not. For instance, a wedding is certainly a major event in a person’s life, and his friends should be around to celebrate. But shouldn’t those same friends be allowed to send each other messages on their birthdays?

It’s nice that the NBA allows some interaction, but they are still creating arbitrary distinctions between what kinds of relationships are important and which aren’t. It’s one thing to be in a protracted labor dispute. Acting as if those same people should stop treating each other like human beings goes too far.

Whatever the case, I’m glad the Mavs got to hang out with Jason Bateman. I hear Cubes is a big fan of “Valerie’s Family.”

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• The ‘Supermom’ who leads Team USA
• Rivals’ Top 25 college football players of the decade • Mom embarrasses HS star son in middle of game

Related: Brian Cardinal, Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks, Video, Lockout videos