Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sir Auric Goldfinger who wrote (3285)	10/15/1999 7:06:00 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

Investors Associates. ... Friday October 15, 6:45 pm Eastern Time Former Investors Associates officers plead guilty NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Three former officers of Investors Associates, a defunct brokerage, have pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges for using high-pressure ''boiler room'' tactics to sell fraudulent public offerings, federal prosecutors said Friday. Lawrence Penna, former chief executive and president, Herman Epstein, former chairman and compliance director and Douglas Mangan, a former supervisor at the firm's Melville, N.Y., branch office pleaded guilty on various dates in October and September, prosecutors said. Investors Associates had offices in New York, New Jersey and Florida. As part of their guilty pleas, Penna and Epstein agreed to forfeit $150,000 and $125,000, respectively. All three men previously settled related civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission without admitting or denying guilt. Prosecutors said the cases against the three men are related to a broader indictment charging Randolph Pace, the former owner of defunct Rooney Pace, and others with allegedly making more than $200 million in illegal profits by defrauding public investors in connection with 11 fraudulent public offerings. Some of the offerings were nderwritten by Sterling Foster, another defunct broker that was allegedly controlled by Pace. The indictment was expanded in September and charges are still pending against Pace. Five individuals previously pleaded guilty in the broader case and agreed to forfeit a total of $30 million to the government. The charges against Penna, Epstein and Mangan involve a scheme that that lasted from 1995 through 1997 and involved five offerings underwritten by Investors Associates and another broker VTR Capital. The defendants admitted that they and others including Pace worked together to create artificially strong demand among public investors for the securities sold as part of the public offerings. They further admitted causing the Investors Associates sales forces to use unlawful sales practices, including misrepresenting and omitting facts to the public about the companies that issued the shares, the offering and the securities being sold.