Former State Street Executive Charged with Securities Fraud, Reports U.S. Attorney
BOSTON, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A Boston man was charged Tuesday, September 10, 2002, in federal court with securities fraud and the fraudulent use of a false social security number.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Charles S. Prouty, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England, announced that EDWARD VOCCOLA, age 48, of 1 Huntington Avenue, Boston, was charged in an indictment with eighteen counts of securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and the use of a false social security number.
The indictment alleges that between February and August 2000, VOCCOLA engaged in "free-riding", a criminal practice in which an investor does not pay for the stocks he purchases, thereby forcing the brokerage house to shoulder all of the risk of the investment. If the stock price goes up, the purchase price can be redeemed out of the gains. If the stock price declines, the investor has a "free ride" and walks away, leaving the broker to absorb the loss. Specifically, the indictment alleges that VOCCOLA wrote a series of bad checks in purported payment for the stocks. According to the indictment, VOCCOLA traded in thirteen accounts at eleven different brokerage houses. VOCCOLA is alleged to have written over $4.9 million worth of bad checks as part of the scheme, leaving the brokerage houses with over $190,000 in losses.
If convicted on these charges, VOCCOLA faces up to 5 years' imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $ 250,000 fine on each count.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen G. Huggard, Chief of Sullivan's Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Albrecht from the Securities & Exchange Commission.
SOURCE U.S. Attorney
CO: U.S. Attorney
ST: Massachusetts
SU: LAW
prnewswire.com
09/13/2002 09:12 EDT |
