Joe,
Maybe this is what the email is about.
SEC sues Florida man for touting, scalping stocks
WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it sued a Florida man, now believed to be living in Spain, for allegedly promoting 15 stocks in misleading e-mails and advertisements in various publications.
In the suit, filed in federal court in New York, Mark Schultz, 47, was accused of making stock recommendations via online subscription services as well as paid advertisements in magazines like Individual Investor between 1995 and 1997. He allegedly received over $500,000 in income from 1995 to 1999.
The suit seeks to to force Schultz to return ill-gotten gains and pay civil monetary penalties, as well as bar him from violating securities laws again.
"Schultz's recommendations typically made inflated financial projections and predicted short-term price increases of 100 percent or more," the SEC said.
Schultz also characterized his stock picks as the result of independent analysis when in reality, "his publications were merely paid tout sheets," the securities regulator said.
Schultz also failed to disclose more than $2 million worth of stock and cash compensation he received for promoting at least 13 companies, according to the SEC, including Acacia Research Corp. <ACRI.O>, Imaging Diagnostic Systems Inc. <IMDS.OB> and WestAmerica Corp.<WACC.O>, among others.
In several instances, Schultz would receive bonuses if the stocks reached certain price levels, according to the SEC complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Additionally, the SEC accused Schultz of selling stock contrary to his published recommendations -- a practice known as scalping, on stocks including Acacia, Advanced Laser Products Inc., Colossal Resources Corp. <CLPZF.O> and Imagica Entertainment <IMEA.OB>.
"As a practical matter, the United States has a treaty with a number of countries, including Spain, and so long as he's served with the papers, he can be held accountable. We will find him," said Luis Mejia, assistant chief litigation counsel at the SEC.
Attempts to locate the defendant or his counsel for comment were not immediately successful.
17:36 05-09-00
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