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Technology Stocks : shopping.com (IBUY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Arcane Lore who wrote (402)	5/15/1999 9:02:00 PM
From: Arcane Lore	Respond to of 435

Irvine broker fined $110,000 by SEC COURTS: Perle's firm earned more than $4.1 million in scheme. 'Crime does pay,' says one victim. May 14, 1999 By CHRIS KNAP The Orange County Register A federal district judge in Los Angeles has sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission against Irvine broker Cery B. Perle, ruling that the former president of Waldron & Co. planned and executed a fraudulent scheme to boost the share price of Internet retailer Shopping.com by 255 percent. The judge, Dickran Tevrizian, agreed earlier this month that Waldron earned more than $4.1 million from the illegal scheme. His ruling was released Thursday. Perle was fined $110,000 and barred from working as a securities dealer. "That's it? It doesn't seem appropriate. It just shows that crime does pay," said Kate Lewis of Santa Cruz, who with her husband, Jeff, lost a chunk of their savings after Shopping.com shares plunged last year. Clifford C. Hyatt, branch chief of the SEC's Pacific Regional Office, said the $110,000 fine is the largest the SEC can impose under its civil authority. He said he hopes federal prosecutors take an interest in the case. "This is one of the most egregious examples of market manipulation we have seen," Hyatt said. "Perle controlled the entire supply of the security, and that allowed him to peg the price." ... ocregister.com

To: Arcane Lore who wrote (402)	5/15/1999 9:09:00 PM
From: Arcane Lore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 435

Stock-hoarding fueled Shopping.com spike COURTS: Depositions detail how an Irvine broker manipulated its share price. May 14, 1999 By CHRIS KNAP The Orange County Register ... The 30-page court finding, based primarily on depositions of others in the case, says Perle planned as early as August 1997 to control Shopping.com prices. Perle told company founder Robert McNulty that he would "keep the company's publicly traded float 'tight' so that Waldron can properly manage the supply of stock in the after-market." The Securities and Exchange Commission hasn't accused anyone at Shopping.com of participating in the scheme. When the company went public at $9 a share in November 1997, Waldron took steps to control the market price, amassing 253,295 shares in its own accounts and 972,320 in customer accounts - 94.3 percent of the 1.3 million shares outstanding, documents show. Depositions show that Perle personally monitored stock depository reports, ordering his brokers to "find a home" for stock or "bury" it in unsuspecting customers' accounts - sometimes over their express objections and orders to sell. Perle denied that happened in the interview, saying "How can I control an individual?" The court findings say Waldron created artificial demand by raising the bid price in the open market, even though it held a huge inventory that it theoretically needed to sell. That helped boost the shares from the $9 offering price to the mid-20s, though Shopping.com was performing poorly, posting millions in quarterly losses. Then Perle squeezed the "short sellers," market speculators who had bet that the stock would fall, the findings show. The short sellers were forced to buy stock from Waldron - typically at 50 percent above the day's closing price - to close out their losing positions. ... ocregister.com

To: Arcane Lore who wrote (402)	8/31/1999 3:17:00 PM
From: Arcane Lore	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 435

From today's SEC Digest: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING INSTITUTED AGAINST CERY PERLE On August 30, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Public Administrative Proceeding against Cery B. Perle (Perle), the former president of Waldron & Co., Inc. (Waldron), a now defunct broker-dealer formerly registered with the Commission. The Commission's Order alleges that Perle was enjoined by a United States District Court from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Sections 10(b) and 15(c)(1) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5 and 15c1-2 thereunder, and that the court also imposed $110,000 in civil penalties against Perle. In its complaint in the District Court action, the Commission alleged that between November 25, 1997 and March 23, 1998, Perle and Waldron manipulated the stock of the Corona del Mar, California Internet retailer, Shopping.com, artificially raising the price of the security from its IPO price of $9.00 to more than $32.00 a share. According to the complaint, Perle manipulated Shopping.com's stock by controlling the supply for the security and creating artificial demand. In controlling the supply, the complaint alleged, Perle, among other things, engaged in unauthorized transactions, refused customer sell orders and parked stock in customers' accounts. To create artificial demand, the complaint alleged that Perle issued a false and misleading press release, and while Waldron was acting as a market maker, caused the firm to raise the bid for the security without economic justification. A hearing will be scheduled to take evidence on the staff's allegations and to afford the Respondent an opportunity to present any defense thereto. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the allegations are true and whether any remedial action should be ordered by the Commission. (Rel. 34-41807; File No. 3-9991) sec.gov