Salt Lake Tribune- U.S. investigators, after posing as management of a phony hedge fund dubbed ”Fillmore Capital,” indicted six insiders and promoters of publicly traded companies for allegedly paying kickbacks to ensure stock purchases. <\/p>\n
The hedge-fund manager was actually an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prosecutors said in a statement. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued 10 people, allegedly involved in five separate kickback schemes, at federal court in Miami. <\/p>\n
”All of the defendants agreed to pay a kickback. With one exception, the defendants actually paid the promised kickback after the hedge fund bought the stock defendants were promoting,” the SEC claimed. <\/p>\n
The SEC, under Chairman Christopher Cox, is cracking down on frauds aimed at retail investors, who are often targets of efforts to manipulate penny-stock prices.<\/p>\n