The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former CEO of a Denver-based oil-and-gas company in an insider trading scheme.

The SEC alleged that the insider trading occurred in advance of Delta Petroleum Corporation’s public announcement that Beverly Hills-based private investment firm Tracinda had agreed to purchase a 35 percent stake in the company, which shot its stock value up by nearly 20 percent.

The SEC initially charged insurance executive Michael Van Gilder for his illegal trading in the case, and is now additionally charging his source – Delta’s then-CEO Roger Parker.

Parker is being represented by Harold A. Haddon of Haddon, Morgan, and Foreman in Denver.

The SEC alleges that Parker, who lives in Englewood, Colo., illegally tipped his close friend Van Gilder and at least one other friend with confidential information about Tracinda’s impending investment.

Despite his duty as CEO to protect nonpublic information, Parker repeatedly communicated with Van Gilder following meetings and other developments as the deal progressed. Parker also illegally tipped information about Delta’s quarterly earnings. The insider trading in this case generated more than $890,000 in illicit profits.

“Parker was entrusted with highly confidential information, and he betrayed that trust to help line the pockets of his close friends,” said SEC enforcement official Sanjay Wadhwa. “Company officials who exploit their insider status must realize that they do so at the risk of inviting SEC scrutiny.”

The SEC alleged that Parker tipped Van Gilder and another friend on several occasions in late November and December 2007 as the Tracinda investment was developing. Based on the inside information, Van Gilder and the other friend loaded up on Delta stock and highly speculative options contracts, and Van Gilder advised his relatives, his broker, and a co-worker to do the same.