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: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11642)	5/12/2003 10:00:26 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

BEAR STERNS IPAYMENT ANALYST thestreet.com "Institutional investors who participated in TheStreet.com's analysts' survey were impressed with Kissane's knowledge of this complex industry. One fund manager spoke of Kissane's "good relationships with covered companies," while another commended his "very thoughtful written pieces on the more traditional IT services names." Kissane also stood out for his objectivity: "He thinks independently, and is not pressured by what is in vogue," says a portfolio manager."

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11642)	5/15/2003 11:08:30 AM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19428

NYSE will hold hearings on its own governance NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange on Thursday said it will hold several days of hearings and solicit letters from its constituents in order to evaluate its own corporate governance. In a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso said a special committee will "review all aspects of the exchange's governance and present its findings and recommendations for changes to our board." Earlier this year, the SEC asked U.S. markets to evaluate their governance and submit a report on their findings by May 15. 05/15/03 09:56 ET

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (11642)	5/19/2003 8:35:45 AM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

BAD NEWS ISAAC, YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT A LITTLE LONGER FOR THAT RUSSIAN BRIDE THAN YOU HAD THOUGHT. Internet fraud initiative nets 130 arrests From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk Published 5/16/2003 1:42 PM View printer-friendly version WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- A nationwide initiative against Internet fraud and abuse has resulted in more than 130 arrests and the seizure of $17 million since January, the Justice Department said Friday. "Operation E-Con" was made up of 90 separate investigations involving 89,000 victims and more than $176 million in losses. Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Tim Muris and other officials announced the initiative Friday. Agents in Operation E-Con executed more than 70 search and seizure warrants, the Justice Department said, and the operation involved 43 U.S. attorneys' offices. This week alone, federal agents arrested 50 people and executed 55 search and seizure warrants, resulting in 12 guilty pleas and charges against 48 people through indictment or court filings. Besides the U.S. attorneys' offices, the FBI and the FTC, the initiative was coordinated by the Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a number of state and local law enforcement agencies. The department said online crimes included multimillion-dollar swindles, auction scams, identity theft, business-opportunity frauds and piracy of software and other copyrighted material. Internet fraud is a growing problem, the department said. The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a joint project of the FBI and the National White-Collar Crime Center, reported that in 2002 it referred more than 48,000 Internet-related fraud complaints to law enforcement. The FTC also has seen a steady increase in both the numbers and the percentages of Internet-related fraud complaints that it has received over the past three years, officials said. In 2002, Internet-related fraud complaints made up nearly half of more than 218,000 fraud complaints received by the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Database. In prepared remarks, Ashcroft described some of the E-Con investigations. In Los Angeles, "a man was indicted on fraud-related charges for allegedly running an elaborate scheme to defraud sellers of computers," Ashcroft said. "The defendant allegedly set up a fictitious company with a fully featured Web site to place orders for computers. Then he steered prospective computer sellers to a sham escrow company he created, also with a fully featured Web site. The escrow Web site made it appear that he had deposited the funds to be held in escrow, so the computer sellers would ship their products to him." In San Diego, a husband and wife were indicted on fraud charges for allegedly operating a fraudulent "Russian dating" scheme directed at lonely men worldwide, the attorney general said. The couple allegedly bilked more than 400 victims of at least $600,000 over a period of approximately three years. In southern Illinois, Ashcroft said, a defendant pleaded guilty this week to mail and wire fraud charges for running a bogus business-opportunity scheme. Through the Internet and direct mail, the defendant persuaded 50,000 people to pay a $30 to $45 registration fee for an at-home envelope stuffing business. The scam raised $2 million, according to the Justice Department. Two defendants in eastern California pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in an Internet investment fraud scheme that netted nearly $60 million from 15,000 victims in 60 countries, Ashcroft said. The investment scheme guaranteed investors a 120 percent annual rate of return with no risk of losing the principal investment. In Maryland, two men have been charged with wire fraud for allegedly luring unsuspecting bank customers to forged or "spoofed" bank Web sites, the attorney general said. Though the customers thought the confidential account data they submitted was going to legitimate banks, the defendants allegedly used the data to produce and fraudulently use ATM and credit cards. In Los Angeles, a man was indicted after he allegedly attended numerous screenings of unreleased major motion pictures, surreptitiously taping the films, and then selling them on the Internet. Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International