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To: G.C. who wrote (49983)	3/3/2000 10:27:00 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 116764

OT. OT, Mob Said To Infiltrate Wall Street MARCH 03, 02:18 EST By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) ? Acting more like a business seeking a consultant with international experience than an organized crime family, Italian mobsters sought help from their Russian counterparts to take on Wall Street in a lucrative stock scheme, authorities say. U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch in Brooklyn said the case that resulted in an indictment charging 19 people, including six alleged mobsters or associates of crime families, ``illustrates the continuing relationship of organized crime in the stock market.' The mob, she said as the indictment was disclosed publicly Thursday, ``sought to extend its reach into the lives of ordinary citizens' as Russian mobsters teamed up with four Italian organized crime families in New York between 1993 and 1996. The unusual combination of forces funneled millions of dollars in illicit proceeds from stock sales through offshore banks before the FBI stumbled upon documents in a storage locker that revealed the large-scale stock fraud and money laundering plot, investigators said. Some of those charged had been captured earlier in a similar prosecution in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. That case involved stock manipulation by small brokerage houses protected by the mob. Lynch estimated the mobsters reaped at least $40 million in illegal profits, while Lewis Schiliro, the FBI's assistant director in charge of the New York office, said profits could easily exceed $60 million. He said the case proved once again that organized crime families, closed off from traditional avenues of income through aggressive prosecutions, sought new opportunities elsewhere. ``A recurrent theme in our investigations has been that the mob goes where the money is,' he said. Among those indicted in the case were a captain in the Bonanno crime family, a soldier in the Genovese family, an associate in the Colombo family and an associate and a soldier in the Gambino family. The Russian gangsters used their expertise in money laundering and offshore bank accounts while the New York mob families lent their skills at muscling their way to money through threats and intimidation, Schiliro said. Authorities refused to divulge exactly how the organized crime families protected the scheme or if anyone was injured. Schiliro said help from the mob was welcomed by two now-defunct brokerage firms in downtown Manhattan ? White Rock Partners & Co. and State Street Capital Markets Corp. According to the indictment, top executives at the two companies joined other brokerage firms and brokers to create fraudulent securities schemes and then launder tens of millions of dollars of illicit profits. The firms allegedly acquired control of tiny companies by quietly buying enough stock in them, then artificially boosted their value by paying unscrupulous brokers to persuade unwitting investors to buy stock in the same companies. After the stock value rose six or seven points, the firms cashed in by selling their secretly held shares, causing the value of the stocks to plummet, the indictment alleged. The profits were laundered by transferring money several times through offshore bank accounts until it had the appearance of having been legitimately earned. Lynch said one company whose securities were manipulated by the mob was essentially dormant until it became part of the scheme. Three companies, she said, were listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Schiliro said the companies who solicited help from the mob learned over time that organized crime had become part of their business. ``Once they're in, they're in for good,' Schiliro said. wire.ap.org