Healthcare
Veteran Orange County medical device executive James V. Mazzo was added to a federal grand jury indictment on insider trading charges, the Department of Justice said. Mazzo’s attorney, Richard Marmaro, a partner with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles, couldn’t be reached for comment. Mazzo is a former chief executive of Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc. who is currently chief executive of Irvine-based AcuFocus Inc. and serves as operating partner out of the Newport Beach office of Versant Ventures. The Justice Department said in a new release that he has been added to an indictment that previously named former professional baseball player Douglas V. DeCinces and two of his associates, real estate attorney Fred Scott Jackson and David Parker. The case was initially filed in 2012. Last week’s action, called a “superseding indictment,” charged Mazzo with providing confidential information to DeCinces in advance of Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories’ $2.8 billion buy of Advanced Medical in 2009. The superseding indictment further alleges that Mazzo previously provided DeCinces with inside information in relation to Advanced Medical’s $800 million buy of Irvine-based IntraLase Corp. in 2007. Mazzo is charged with 13 counts of insider trading, 13 counts of tender offer fraud and one count of securities fraud. He and the other defendants will be summoned to appear for arraignment in the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Meanwhile, Aliso Viejo-based Microsemi Corp. said Mazzo resigned from its board of directors. The chipmaker said in a press release that Mazzo’s resignation “did not arise as a result of any disagreement on any matter relating to Microsemi’s operations, policies or practices.”
Media
Santa Ana-based Freedom Communication Inc. laid off 29 newsroom staffers, folded the Los Angeles Register and closed its Washington, D.C. bureau. “As we look ahead, we are examining all aspects of our newspapers to determine the geographic areas and news topics that are most profitable and deliver the most value to our subscribers,” said Chief Executive Aaron Kushner and co-owner Eric Spitz in a memo to employees. The parent of the Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise has been trimming operations in recent months, reducing the frequency of several publications, laying off staff, and sending others on mandatory, unpaid furloughs (see related story, page 1).
Restaurants
Lake Forest-based Del Taco LLC said it will open 28 locations in the Southeast United States. Franchisee Clay Gullatt opened his first of three in Columbus, Ga., in August. Another franchisee’s location recently opened in Columbia, S.C., and a company-owned site opened in Marietta, Ga. Five of 13 new Del Taco locations in the past year have been in the Southeast U.S., including in Georgia and Alabama. In July, the company announced a package of franchisee incentives for opening in new markets. Del Taco has 549 restaurants in 17 states. It ranked No. 4 on the Business Journal’s recent list of OC-based restaurant chains, with $622 million in systemwide sales.
Other
A judge sentenced the former chief executive of Powerplant Maintenance Specialists Inc. to seven years in prison for cheating the state of more than $3 million in income taxes. Dick Engel owned the privately held Costa Mesa company with his now ex-wife.
Money magazine named Irvine one of the 50 best places to live, ranking it 14th and the top California city on the list. The magazine based Irvine’s ranking on its economy, schools and open space.
