Maria Checa: Playmate Insider Trading

Maria Checa has been caught up in an insider trading operation. The 38-year-old Playboy Playmate of the Month in August 1994 received tips and insider information from her 27-year-old boyfriend, Jamil Bouchareb, a Miami-based daytrader. The source of these tips was Matthew Devlin, an ex-Lehman Brothers broker, who started snooping on his wife's travel schedules to uncover upcoming mergers and acquisitions.

Using two corporate accounts, Checa International and Playmate Capital, Maria Checa was able to trade on transactions related to companies like biotech firm Abgenix, beer company InBev, and gaming giant Electronic Arts before the information became public.

Nina Devlin is a partner at Brunswick Group LLC, a public relations ad international communications firm that represented large corporations, but was unaware that Devlin was committing a "violation of trust between husband and wife." Starting in February 2005 and ending last August, her husband passed information on more than a dozen M&As to friends and clients, who reaped $4.8 million from insider trading. He was rewarded with gifts a diverse as a Cartier watch, Porsche driving lessons, and a wide-screen TV.

Although Maria Checa has not been charged, she has been listed as a relief defendant, which means any illegal profits she made can be forfeited. Besides modeling, Checa is also an artist, having attended the Maryland Institute College of Art.