RODS A CRANK. THE SEC DID THEIR JOB. ALSO ELGINDY WAS NOT CHARGED WITH NAKED SHORT SELLING.
ROD DID NOT MENTION THE MOB OR THE BRIBES TO THE MANY MANY STOCK BROKERS WHICH MANIPULATED EAGLES STOCK PRICE. EITHER.
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02-15-05 -- Labella, Tonino et al. -- Indictment -- News Release
One Arrested in Italy, Three Charged in U.S. in Multi-Million Dollar Securities Fraud
NEWARK, N.J. - Three men have been charged and a third is being held by authorities in Italy in connection with a stock manipulation and kickback scheme that resulted in millions of dollars in losses to investors, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced today.
Tonino Labella, 47, of Drexel Hill, Pa.; Robert Montani, 43, of Phoenixville, Pa.; Vincent Langella, 43, of Staten Island, N.Y., and Michael Garbo, 26, of Secaucus, N.J. were indicted on Jan. 24, on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, and other related charges. The Indictment was unsealed on Friday, following the arrest of Labella by American and Italian law enforcement officials in Isernia, Italy.
Langella is currently in federal custody in Allenwood, Pa. on an unrelated charge; Montani and Garbo surrendered this morning to the FBI in Newark. Montani and Garbo appeared later in the day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk and were each released on $100,000 bond secured by real estate.
The charges by the U.S. Attorney's Office come after an extensive coordinated investigation by the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. (The Indictment can be downloaded by following the appropriate links at usdoj.gov )
According to the Indictment, Labella was the CEO of a securities broker-dealer known as Bryn Mawr Investment Group headquartered in Rosemont, Pa. Montani was the operations manager, compliance officer, and a broker at the headquarters of Bryn Mawr. Garbo and Langella were brokers in Bryn Mawr branches offices.
Labella is accused of offering bribes to the brokers who worked for him in exchange for the brokers selling Bryn Mawr customers certain "house stocks." The "house stocks," it is charged, came from companies that Labella controlled.
The Indictment alleges that Labella and others made millions of dollars as the bribes drove the price of the selected "house stocks" up. In addition, the Indictment alleges that Labella and others used off-shore credit cards to obtain and conceal the proceeds of their stock-manipulation scheme. Montani is charged with selling his own Bryn Mawr customers' shares of house stocks in exchange for bribes, and, as the operations manager and compliance officers of the firm, with facilitating bribe payments to other brokers in the Bryn Mawr offices. Garbo and Langella were charged with taking bribes in exchange for selling Bryn Mawr customers' house stocks.
The defendants and others allegedly used aggressive cold-calling tactics with prospective customers, exaggerated the projected profits of the house stocks, and even acquired shares of house stocks on behalf of existing clients without their clients' knowledge. According to the Indictment, the prices of the manipulated stocks eventually plummeted and investors lost millions of dollars.
As of today, Labella was still being held by the Italian authorities, awaiting a bail hearing and extradition proceedings.
Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr.; Special Agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation section, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia J. Haynes; and the Securities and Exchange Commission in New York, under the direction of Regional Director Mark Schoenfeld, for the work in the case leading to the charges announced today. Christie also thanked authorities with the Italian Ministry of Justice in Italy for their cooperation and assistance in the arrest and anticipated extradition of Labella.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Hoppock and Anthony Moscato, Jr.
-end-
Defense Counsel:
for Montani: Thomas Ostrander, Esq. Philadelphia
for Garbo: John H. Yauch, Federal Public Defender (for initial appearance only) |
