A quick one, but two names to mark with due caution re: future business ventures, yes:

SEC charges two with stock fraud

By Robert Schroeder
MarketWatch
April 6, 2006

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two New York men with securities fraud and froze their assets Thursday, alleging the individuals used the Internet to manipulate the market for 24 microcap stocks.

The defendants, Faisal Zafar and Sameer Thawani, in some cases linked their fraud to concerns about terrorism and health epidemics, the SEC said. In one case, Zafar said an issuer was getting a contract from the Department of Homeland Security, just after the London subway bombings. He said another issuer was acquiring a company that produces "bird flu" vaccine, the SEC said.

The agency said the two men created at least 300 different Internet user IDs and used them to post more than 1,000 messages about the stocks. The SEC is seeking penalties and repayment of $873,000 in ill-gotten gains. Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

The original article appears here.

-- MDT