A recent article on The Escapist describes how former Funcom CEO Trond Aas is facing insider trading charges over his attempt to liquidate Funcom stock. This allegedly came shortly after a switch in his role from CEO to "Strategic Advisor to the Board and Chief Strategy Officer," which apparently removed him from Funcom's "primary insider list," making this a more low-profile sale. It also allegedly came shortly before the layoffs and a precipitous drop in their share price after poor sales of The Secret World, but according to an anonymous source quoted in the report, word getting out of Aas' stock sale is part of what caused it to lose value. Aas claims the timing was simply fortuitous, and having resigned as CEO, he new nothing about poor sales of their new game until the company issued its financial reporting. Thanks nin via Kotaku.