To: DanielleC  who wrote (115919 ) 1/5/2000 2:29:00 PM From: bsl113     Read Replies (3)  | Respond to    of 119973  
Is this true?cbs.marketwatch.com  SEC sues 'Tokyo Joe' for securities fraud                  Web-based guru accused of scalping, other violations                   By William L. Watts, CBS MarketWatch                   Last Update: 1:47 PM ET Jan 5, 2000                                                               See: NewsWatch                  WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Yun Soo Oh Park, the self-proclaimed                  day-trading guru and Web site operator known as "Tokyo Joe," faces civil                  fraud charges accusing him of defrauding members of his Society Anonyme                  stock-picking service, the Securities and Exchange Commission said                  Wednesday.                  In a complaint filed in federal court in Chicago, the                  SEC said Park, a New York resident, engaged in                  scalping, illegal touting and lying about his                  performance record.                  The SEC said Park and Societe Anonyme charged                  members up to $200 a month for Park's stock picks                  and other investment advice. Meanwhile, Park                  allegedly misled members or lied to them about his                  positions in the stocks he was recommending.                  According to the SEC, Park was contemporaneously                  selling the same stocks he was recommending that                  Society Anonyme members to buy. In such cases,                  Park allegedly bought the stock shortly before his                  buy recommendation and then profited by selling the                  stock into the buying flurry that followed his                  recommendation, a practice known as "scalping."                  The commission said Park posted "materially false                  and misleading" performance results on his Web site                  and also engaged in illegal touting.                  "The Internet has witnessed the rapid growth of Web sites run by                  self-proclaimed investment gurus. Today's action makes clear that we will                  not tolerate fraudulent conduct or undisclosed conflicts of interest by those                  peddling investment advice on the Internet," said SEC Enforcement Division                  chief Richard H. Walker.                  The SEC is seeking a permanent injunction against Park and Society                  Anonyme, which is operated from Park's New York home, as well as                  disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains and civil penalties.