Minor leaguers charged in San Diego with illegally profiting off fast food merger

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday also filed an insider trading civil lawsuit against the trio and a fourth former minor leaguer.

The indictment and the SEC lawsuit allege that Jordan Qsar, an El Cajon native who played in the minor leagues for the Rays and Philadelphia Phillies, received the insider information in October 2021 from a close friend and former Pepperdine University baseball teammate who worked in finance at Jack in the Box, which is headquartered in San Diego. The SEC alleges that the friend, who was working on the Del Taco acquisition, shared the information with Qsar "in confidence and under the understanding that Qsar would not trade on the information or disclose it to others."

Instead, the SEC alleges that Qsar shared the insider information with Austin Bernard and Chase Lambert, also former teammates from Pepperdine who were playing or previously played in the minor leagues, and Grant Witherspoon, a teammate and close friend of Qsar's from the Rays' minor league system.

According to the SEC, all four men purchased stock in Del Taco in the months before Jack in the Box completed the purchase in December 2021. When the acquisition was announced, Del Taco's stock rose 66 percent.

"Qsar, Bernard, Witherspoon, and Lambert sold their options and made about $189,000 in combined trading profits," the SEC lawsuit alleges.

According to the agency, Qsar made about $56,500 in trading profits; Bernard, a Valley Center High School graduate and Oceanside resident, made about $64,700; Witherspoon made about $42,800; and Lambert made about $25,100.

Though prosecutors said the criminal indictment was unsealed Tuesday, it was not yet available publicly. Prosecutors said Qsar, Witherspoon and Bernard were indicted on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

It was unclear Tuesday if any of the men were represented by attorneys who could comment on their behalf. Qsar could not be reached for comment.

The SEC lawsuit alleges that the men also tipped off other named and unnamed individuals, including a fifth unnamed minor league baseball player, another former Pepperdine teammate and several family members. The SEC lawsuit "seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties" against the four ball players.

Qsar, 28, graduated from Valhalla in 2014 and went on to Pepperdine, where he both pitched and played outfield. After being named West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2018, the Rays drafted him in the 25th round of that year's Major League Baseball draft. He reached Triple-A as an outfielder with both the Rays and the Phillies, playing 76 games for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate in 2023. He signed with the Washington Nationals earlier this month but was released by the team last week.

Bernard, 27, also graduated in 2014 from Valley Center High School and was part of the same freshman class as Qsar at Pepperdine. Despite injuries limiting his collegiate playing time, he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round of the 2017 MLB draft. A light-hitting catcher and outfielder, he played in the lower levels of the Rockies' system until 2022. The lawsuit states that Bernard lives in Oceanside but recently signed a contract with a baseball team in India.

Witherspoon, 27, lives in Colorado and played with Qsar on at least four minor league teams in the Rays' system. The lawsuit alleges they were roommates and close friends when the insider trading occurred. Lambert, 27, lives in Malibu, where Pepperdine is located, and played in college with Qsar and Bernard. He briefly played in the minor leagues after being drafted in 2018 by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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