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Strategies & Market Trends : Joe Copia's daytrades/investments and thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Copia who wrote (24084)	1/24/2002 8:35:29 AM
From: Joe Copia	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25711

B: SEC Closes Tampa, Fla., Videoconferencing Business Over Stock Scheme Jan 24, 2002 (Tampa Tribune - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX)-- TAMPA -- A Tampa videoconferencing company that sold at least $1.7 million worth of stock was shut down Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission for making "false claims." The SEC said Tel-One Inc. was running a big "pump and dump scheme." That's when somebody drives up the value of shares with bogus promises, while selling their own shares at a profit. So the SEC got a court order halting the sales of Tel-One Inc. stock. Trading in the shares -- which had been selling over-the-counter for about $2.50 -- were halted. Also, the U.S. District Court agreed to freeze the assets of Tel-One and another company, Media Broadcast Solutions Inc., that promoted the Tel-One shares. Officials of Tel-One could not be reached for comment. The SEC listed key executives as: W. Kris Brown, identified as Tel-One's president; George Carapella, identified as Tel-One director at the time of the misconduct and as having multiple fraud convictions; Alan S. Lipstein, described as a former Tel-One director currently awaiting sentencing on a federal money laundering conviction; and George LaFauci, identified as a cousin to Carapella and a Media Broadcast executive. The SEC said that Carapella and Lipstein control both companies. Media Broadcast made "false claims" about Tel-One's abilities in the videoconferencing, an industry expected to grow after the Sept. 11 attacks made business people fear travel. Videoconferencing let people see each other and talk over phone lines. Carapella and Lipstein were selling Tel-One shares, while telling investors the stock could go to $21, the SEC said. The SEC investigated after a Tel-One stock advertisement in the Wall Street Journal. The text of the ad said Tel-One was awarded a contract from the state of Florida for a project involving the University of Florida's College of Medicine. A college spokeswoman said Wednesday it has no record of a signed contract. To see more of the Tampa Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to tampatrib.com (c) 2002, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business New