Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for the Dallas Mavericks ...

Owner Mark Cuban has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly dumping shares in Mamma.com — The Mother of All Search Engines — upon learning it was raising money in a private offering. Gulp. Here's a snippet of the SEC press release, via The Huffington Post:

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading for selling 600,000 shares of the stock of an Internet search engine company on the basis of material, non-public information concerning an impending stock offering.

The Commission's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that in June 2004, Mamma.com Inc. invited Cuban to participate in the stock offering after he agreed to keep the information confidential. The complaint further alleges that Cuban knew that the offering would be conducted at a discount to the prevailing market price and that it would be dilutive to existing shareholders.

Straightforward explanation, with help from the Wall Street Journal: The SEC alleges Cubes sold his entire ownership stake after learning that Mamma.com was raising money through a private investment in a public entity, or PIPE. The next day, the company announced the PIPE financing and shares of the company dropped by more than 10%. By selling his goods, the SEC alleges, Cubes avoided more than $750,000 in losses.

So much for buying the Cubs or landing Stephon Marbury ...

Update: It's not much, but we have a short legal response on Cuban's blog: "I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so."