From today's SEC Digest:
COMMISSION FILES ACTION IN INTERNET STOCK HOAX
On November 18, the Commission filed a settled injunctive action in federal district court in Chicago, Illinois, against Leszek Zbierajewski, a 25 year old resident of Chicago. The complaint charges Zbierajewski with using the internet to circulate a false press release announcing an $89 million strategic alliance between Bid.com International, Inc., a publicly traded company on NASDAQ, and America OnLine. On July 8, 1999, Zbierajewski, using the screen name "jag 98 ," posted the false press release on the Yahoo!Finance message board. The release caused tremendous trading activity in the shares of Bid.com, temporarily causing the price of Bid.com shares to increase from $8.50 to $9.00 per share. After Zbierajewski retracted the press release and Bid.com and AOL declared it a hoax, the share price of Bid.com's stock declined to approximately the price at which it was trading before the false announcement.
The complaint charges that Zbierajewski deliberately caused a significant disruption to the Bid.com market. Zbierajewski consented to the entry of an order of permanent injunction which does not impose civil penalties, based on Zbierajewski's demonstrated inability to pay. [SEC v. Leszek Zbierajewski, Civ. No. 99C-7530, USDC, ND Ill.] (LR-16363)
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