The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched an informal inquiry into stock trades at Stan Lee Media, which may have attributed to the company's stock plunging from $12 to $0.12. The SEC is looking into large trades made by executives and investment partners. In addition, the government agency is investigating possible misuse of company funds by former employees. The alleged misuse was uncovered during a recent internal investigation. Stan Lee Media has terminated executive VP operations Stephen Gordon and its consulting pact with Paraversal Inc. Co-founder Peter Paul also left the firm on December 18, 2000 -- the day Nasdaq halted trading SLM stock and the company closed its operations. Some rumors have said that certain executives and investment partners had been selling anywhere from US$640,000 to $900,000 worth of shares in late November/early December. SLM CEO Ken Williams said, "The company plans to cooperate fully with the investigation and to turn over to the SEC any information in its possession which may be helpful to the investigators."