An assistant to a top executive at Walt Disney Co. has been charged with participating in an insider trading scheme.

Federal prosecutors in New York accused Bonnie Hoxie and a friend of taking advantage of inside information about Disney's finances.

They said Wednesday that Hoxie obtained company secrets while she was a secretary to Disney's head of corporate communications from March through Tuesday.

They said Hoxie and Yonni Sebbag, both of Los Angeles, sent anonymous letters to multiple hedge funds and other investment companies offering to sell the inside information.

Both were expected to appear in federal court in California later Wednesday.

The names of their attorneys were not immediately available.