|
|
|
Spammer Ralsky pleads guilty to stock fraud
Court Watch |
2009/06/23 08:38
|
Alan Ralsky, a spam kingpin who was convicted of felony bank fraud in 1995, could face more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty in a stock fraud case involving spam messages that pumped up Chinese "penny" stocks.
Ralsky and four other individuals pleaded guilty on Monday, joining three others who had pleaded guilty earlier, the US Department of Justice announced on Monday. Cases are still pending against three other people, they said. The defendants were indicted in the Eastern District of Michigan in 2007.
In 2004 and 2005, the group engaged in a set of related conspiracies to manipulate stocks using false and misleading spam messages. After the spam boosted the trading volume and prices of the thinly traded stocks, the conspirators profited by trading in their shares. Many of the shares were low-priced "pink sheet" stocks for US companies owned by individuals in Hong Kong and China, the DOJ said.
Ralsky, 64, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and to violate the CAN-SPAM Act. As part of his guilty plea, Ralsky acknowledged he faces as much as 87 months in prison and a US$1 million fine. Ralsky's son-in-law, Scott Bradley, 38, also of Bloomfield Hills, pleaded guilty to the same charges and acknowledged he faces as long as 78 months in prison and a $1 million fine.
John Bown, 45, of Fresno, California, admitted creating a botnet to send the spam. Bown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and to violate the CAN-SPAM Act, as well as conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He faces as much as 63 months in prison and a US$75,000 fine. William Neil, 46, of Fresno, and James Fite, 36, of Culver City, California, also pleaded guilty in the case. All five defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on October 29. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
Law Firm Directory
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
