"19 Charged in Stock Scheme Tied to the Mob." The New York Times Section B, Column 4, Page 3(March 3, 2000). Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: The scheme was straight out of a Hollywood pitch meeting, the authorities said: "Goodfellas" meets "Boiler Room." For nearly three years, they explained, a cadre of stockbrokers cheated unsuspecting investors out of $40 million--with the support and muscle of the New York mob. The story, which was revealed in a federal indictment unsealed on March 2, 2000, in Brooklyn, even had the requisite action-movie ending. In predawn raids, nearly 100 federal agents arrested 11 of the 19 people charged in the stock fraud scheme, including the brother-in-law of Salvatore Gravano, the Mafia hitman turned informer better known as Sammy the Bull.

"Department of Corporations Issues Warning on 'Affinity Fraud'." Business Wire (September 7, 1999):p. 392.Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-Nexis Abstract: The California Department of Corporations joined other state securities regulators today in issuing a warning about con artists who target members of religious groups. The warning follows state regulatory and law enforcement actions in recent months in securities fraud cases in which members of religious groups were targeted by schemers seeking to gain their trust by playing on their faith.

"FinancialWeb." [http://www.financialweb.com]. 14 March 2000.Abstract: Founded in 1997, is positioned to become a leading global e-financial marketplace where visitors around the world will have access to unique and current market information in addition to a network of online financial service providers.

This bibliography is a representative selection of materials either owned or on order by the FBI Academy Library. Inclusion of an item does not represent an endorsement by the FBI of the material or its author.

"GAO to Warn of Online Securities Enforcement Problems." Communications Daily 19, no. 54(March 22, 1999).Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: Securities fraud on the Internet is rapidly becoming a serious problem, but it's not certain how effective SEC and state enforcement will be, according to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report scheduled for release today at Senate Permanent Investigation Subcommittee Hearing. The Clinton Administration is expected to announce a new plan to combat Internet-based fraud. The plan will give increasing role to Justice Department and stress interagency coordination. Until now, the FTC which has been the Department of Justice's sometime rival in other matters, has taken the lead on Internet fraud issues.

"Pennsylvania Securities Commission Unveils Internet Fraud Unit; Twenty Percent of Enforcement Cases Internet Related." PR Wire (August 17, 1999).Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: According to the Pennsylvania Securities Commissioner, the time has come to necessarily organize its focus on the rapidly growing area of Internet securities fraud, in recognition of the explosion in the multitude of get-rich-quick frauds that are popping up all over the Internet. The Commission has gained a national reputation as a pioneer on Internet issues.

"SEC Cracks Down on "Free Stock" Offerings." Newsbytes (July 13, 1999).Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: The SEC has begun a crackdown on a wave of unregistered, so-called "free stock" offerings made via the Internet, with the charging and settling of enforcement actions against four individuals and two companies. In all four cases, the SEC said, investors had to disclose their personal information--data that's regarded as liquid gold by marketers and business people--before they could get their hands on the "free stock."

"Securities Fraud Bill to Be Unveiled in Senate." Newsbytes (March 1999).Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: The Senate Permanent Affairs Subcommittee Chairman will introduce a bill to increase the SEC's power to prosecute online trading fraudsters within a month to six weeks. According to the Chairman, it will allow the SEC to piggyback on state enforcement actions. The bill would forbid people who are barred from trading in microcap stocks to migrate to penny stocks, and vice versa.

Anthony, Jason, et al. "Securities Fraud." American Criminal Law Review 36, no. 3(Summer 1999): 61 p.Notes: Available full-text in CJPIAbstract: This article discusses the methods by which the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 monitor the securities market, with emphasis on the definition of securities fraud, common defenses to charges of substantive fraud, enforcement mechanisms, penalties, and recent developments in this area of the law.

Coolidge, Carrie. "Wait Until Dark (Online Stock Manipulators Start to Work at Night)." Forbes (February 21, 2000): p. 154.Abstract: Up until now, day traders were the target of choice for Internet scamsters who would hype stocks in chat rooms and on message boards with rumors or bogus news. Until Yun Soo Oh Park, a.k.a. Tokyo Joe, a con artist who started to work the night shift. Night is a good time to pump and dump securities. Hardly anyone is on guard duty watching for anonymous postings that send prices soaring. At present, SEC makes a token effort but remains understaffed at night to cruise the hundreds of financial Web sites.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Operation InvestNet." [http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/investnet/investnet.htm] 14 March 2000.Abstract: The FBI has taken an aggressive role in both proactive and historical securities and commodities fraud investigations. FBI investigations have led to successful prosecutions involving penny stocks, national exchange stocks, commodities and futures markets, insider trading, and market manipulations, as well as unregistered securities cases. The Financial Crimes Section, Economic Crimes Unit of the FBI has established the groundwork for an initiative involved in the fraudulent solicitations of security instruments utilizing the Internet. The initiative has been designated "Operation InvestNet." The initiative will endeavor to create an environment in which the FBI would take an aggressive posture in acting as a conduit through which leads indicating potential fraudulent investment activities perpetrated over the Internet are addressed in an assertive, proactive fashion.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Wanted by the FBI." [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/janduckett.htm]. 14 March 2000.Abstract: VINCENT LEON DUCKETT, featured on the FBI's Most Wanted web site, is wanted for bank fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy. He was indicted in May 1997 in Little Rock, Arkansas, for conspiracy to distribute counterfeit securities and possession of counterfeit securities. He was also indicted for bank fraud and conspiracy to distribute counterfeit securities in November 1997. Prior to the latter indictment, he is believed to have fled to Arkansas. He was indicted again in February 1999 for conspiracy to distribute counterfeit securities valued at over $4 million. The securities were intercepted before they could be delivered to Nigeria. DUCKETT has contacts in Nigeria and has reportedly traveled there.

Griffis, Michael. "stocks.about.com." [http://www.stocks.about.com]. 14 March 2000.Abstract: One of the networks of sites led by expert guides with links to interesting and topical articles updated daily.

Hagan, F. From HUD to Iran-Contra: Crime During the Reagan Administration. New Orleans, LA: Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Meeting, 1992.Notes: Available through InterLibrary LoanAbstract: A historical review is presented of public and private white collar criminal activity during the Regan Administration, such as the savings and loan and insider-trading scandals, the Department of Housing and Urban Development scandal, and the Iran-Contra Affair.

Hill, Logan. "E-Crime: The Internet Makes Old Crimes Easier and Creates New Ones." Playboy 46, no. 9(September 1, 1999): p. 70.Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: No one really knows how big e-crime is. In 1997, the FBI estimated losses at $10 billion a year, a figure one corporate cyberspace lawyer dismisses as a drop in the bucket. New technology has given birth to new scams--and new life to old tricks. Nearly 10 million people use the Internet for investment purposes, with more day traders (who thrive on price volatility and hair-trigger decisions) joining the market. Given those circumstances, it's hardly surprising that the venerable "pump and dump" scam has added to e-crime statistics. In this security fraud, so-called investors buy a stock low, run up the price with false rumors, then sell and make their getaway.

Hillman, Richard J. Securities Fraud: The Internet Poses Challenges to Regulators and Investors. Washington, DC: United States General Accounting Office, 1999.Call Number: GA 1.5/2:T-GGD-99-34Notes: Also available full-text on the Internet at http://www.gao.gov/AIndexFY99/abstracts/gg99034t.htmAbstract: Report of Richard J. Hillman, GAO Associate Director, released at the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the rapid growth of the Internet and its transformation of the securities industry. The popularity of the Internet among investors provides criminals with a new and efficient medium to defraud. The Internet makes it easy for fraudulent operators to remain anonymous and commit crimes from virtually anywhere in the world, making it difficult for US regulatory and law enforcement authorities to apprehend them. According to the SEC, as the Internet expands, so do opportunities for securities fraud.

Krebs, Brian. "SEC Awarded $7 Million As Online Security Sleuth ." Newsbytes (December 9, 1999).Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: Buried within the fiscal 2000 appropriations bill signed by President Clinton is an allotment of $7 million for the Securities and Exchange Commission to set up enforcement of Internet-related securities fraud.

Library of Congress. "Bill Summary & Status for the 106th Congress." [http://thomas.loc.gov/]. Abstract: S. 1015 - Online Investor Protection Act of 1999 - A bill to require disclosure with respect to securities transactions conducted "online," to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to study the effects of online trading on securities markets, to prevent online securities fraud, and for other purposes. Introduced 5/12/1999, read twice, and referred to the Committee on Banking.

McClintick, David. "The Dirtiest Bank in the World (Fraud Investigation of the Credit Lyonnais Bank)." Forbes 164, no. 14(December 13, 1999): pp. 148-50+.Abstract: Once a force in global finance, France's Credit Lyonnais has been looted by criminals, racked by scandal, and decimated by reckless and corrupt investments. A criminal probe that began quietly five years ago has ballooned into over 100 cases of suspected fraud, bribery, embezzlement, perjury, forgery, money laundering, and blackmail and arson in France and several other countries, including the United States. Among the possible crimes in America under investigation are securities fraud, mail fraud, and lying to the Federal Reserve.

Mosser, Mike. ""So You've Got a Complaint, Now What? Resources Available to Investors Who Want to Complain About Brokers or Questionable Trading Practices." Futures (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 28, no. 5(May 1, 1999): p. 76.Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: Deciding to complain about an investment or a broker is only the first step. There's a variety of options depending on a broker's membership affiliation and the severity of the alleged infraction. There also are avenues for arbitration outside of a courtroom to seek a recovery of funds. From outright scams to questionable trading practices and simple misunderstandings with a broker, when investors think they've been wronged they understandably want to complain. Fortunately, there are a variety of resources through futures exchanges, regulatory agencies and law enforcement to handle these problems.

Norrgard, Lee E. and Julia M. Norrgard. Consumer Fraud: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1998.Call Number: *HV 6695 .N67 1998 REFNotes: *Reference bookAbstract: Acknowledging that consumers lose billions of dollars annually to telemarketing fraud, misleading advertising, and bogus investment schemes, this book reveals the full spectrum of consumer fraud from adulteration to work-at-home scams, it explains what consumer fraud is, how it affects society, and what is being done to combat it.

Sherrid, Pamela. "A Piece of Michael Milken." U.S. News & World Report 126, no. 13(April 5, 1999): p. 47. Notes: Available full-text in Lexis-NexisAbstract: What Michael Jordan was to jump shots, Michael Milken was to raising capital. As creator and potentate of the junk-bond market in the 1980's, Milken could scare up billions of dollars in hours, funding the takeover artists who shook up Corporate America as well as upstart companies that went on to change entire industries. Then, as the whole world watched, Milken fell. After a long government investigation, he pleaded guilty to six felonies, including securities fraud, and spent two years in prison. Depending on whom you ask, Milken is either a misunderstood martyr who revolutionized financial markets or a scoundrel who symbolizes an era of capitalism run amok. Well, guess what? Milken is once again dipping his toe in capital markets. This time, it is Milken who is the entrepreneur, looking to raise capital through an initial stock offering for an arm of fast-growing Knowledge Universe, the privately held company he founded along with his brother and a software magnate.

Stein, Benjamin J. A License to Steal: The Untold Story of Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.Call Number: HV 4928.5 .M55S74 1992Abstract: Imagine a financial network so powerful that it became the most feared and envied force on Wall Street, sucking in money from every household in America through the nation's savings and loan institutions, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and municipalities, and using that money to make a few people rich beyond comprehension. That was Michael Milken's astounding junk-bond empire, run out of Drexel Burnham Lambert, an operation built upon an extraordinarily clever series of deceptions and manipulations that turned corporate America upside down and gave our nation a push toward the longest recession in post-World War II history.

US Securities and Exchange Commission. "How the SEC Protects Investors and Maintains Market Integrity." December 1999. [http://www.sec.gov/asec/wwwsec.htm]. 14 March 2000.Abstract: Introduction to the Securities and Exchange Commission, who they are and what they do.

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