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from www.wsj.com – There’s trouble in the land of the Bunny.

The husband of Christie Hefner, daughter of The Hef and the former CEO of Playboy, settled legal claims by the SEC that he engaged in improper trading in Playboy stock.

Ms. Hefner’s husband is William Marovitz [pictured], a former Illinois state senator who is well known in the close-quarters Chicago political community.

According to a legal complaint filed with an Illinois federal court, “Despite instructions from his wife that he should not trade in shares of Playboy and a warning from the general counsel of Playboy about his buying or selling Playboy stock, Marovitz bought and sold shares of Playboy in his own brokerage accounts between 2004 and 2009 ahead of public news announcements related to” a proposed takeover of Playboy and other confidential information such as quarterly earnings.

The SEC said Marovitz gained profits and avoided losses totaling about $101,000.

Marovitz and the SEC agreed to settle the charges, the SEC said in a news release. Marovitz didn’t admit or deny the allegations against him, but he agreed to pay $168,352 give back his gains, plus civil penalties and interest. Marovitz also agreed not to violate insider-trading regulations in the future.

James Streicker, an attorney for Marovitz, declined to comment on the legal charges or the SEC settlement. Streicker said Marovitz in total lost money on his investment in Playboy stock over the period at issue in the SEC complaint.

Hugh Hefner earlier this year reached a deal to take Playboy private. But before that deal was struck with the help of private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management, Playboy had fielded other takeover offers. In the one cited by the SEC, Playboy around 2009 was talking with Iconix Brand Group, owner of the London Fog brand, about a takeover.