(Updated June 7) Nicholas Howey, a businessman with ties to Darnestown, has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the Security Exchange Commission after the agency sued Howey and a Las Vegas gaming executive for alleged illegal insider stock trading.

The story was first reported by VegasInc.com.

In 2007, R. Brooke Dunn reportedly tipped-off Howey when he heard his company, Shuffle Master Inc., would have to report low quarterly earnings, the SEC alleged.

Upon hearing the news, Howey allegedly traded $237,000 in the company's securities to turn a profit, according to the SEC lawsuit.

By using this confidential information, the two essentially turned a losing investment into a profitable one, the SEC lawsuit alleged. 

Dunn was a senior vice president at Shuffle Master, a casino equipment manufacturer. 

Howey co-founded Troika Entertainment, a Gaithersburg-based company that specializes in entertainment and Broadway-style productions around the world, according to its website.

VegasInc.com reported Monday that Dunn agreed to pay a fine of $181,594 as part of a settlement.

Howey has agreed to be liable for that amount, and must also pay $30,403 in interest and a second fine of $181,594, according to the report. That brings the minimum total Howey owes to $211,997, while he's liable for up to $393,591.

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Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story identified Nicholas Howey as current CEO of Troika Entertainment and a Darnestown resident. Randall Buck is listed as the current CEO of Troika on its website. Buck commented Wednesday on Gaithersburg Patch that Howey no longer lives in Darnestown or runs Troika Entertainment, despite the address listed in court documents or the information listed on Howey's LinkedIn account.