Lets see, Kevin Orton, where have I heard that name before? HMMMM
Two Former Teletek Officers Found Guilty in Stock Run-Up Case
Las Vegas, Nevada, Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Two former Teletek Inc. and United Payphone Services Inc. officers were found guilty of racketeering and money laundering related to an alleged scam to run-up stocks by bribing brokers and stock promoters.
Former Teletek President Keith Shwayder and Kevin Orton, a former outside accountant for Teletek and United, were also convicted of conspiracy and both wire and securities fraud after a two-month jury trial in U.S. District Court in Nevada, the U.S. Attorney's Office there said.
A federal grand jury in November 1996 indicted 30 people and claimed officers of Teletek, which provides long-distance phone services, illegally issued millions of shares as bribes and shipped cash to brokers by overnight mail. Similar efforts promoted the stocks of United Payphone and Enrotek Corp., a Toronto-based property investment firm, prosecutors said at the time. Other defendants were added later.
``We are very pleased the jury understood the seriousness of the offenses and found that this officer and director, and the accountant, were responsible for their roles in this nationwide conspiracy,' said Bruce Bettigole, the lead prosecutor in the case.
The jury demanded Orton forfeit $200,000 in gains from the alleged fraud. Shwayder will forfeit $414,334, prosecutors said.
Thirty-five people -- including former Teletek CEO Michael Swan and wife Claudia Higgins, who was an officer of United -- have pleaded guilty to related felony charges, prosecutors said today. Two of them were convicted in May 1998.
Bettigole declined to comment on whether the probe is continuing or if any further charges would be filed.
The overall conspiracy stretched from November 1991 until at least December 1995, according to the government. It included bribing brokers in Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois and Oklahoma.
Dec/23/1999 18:34
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