BOSTON (CN) - The SEC on Friday charged five men with conspiring to manipulate the stock price of an empty shell company - which the FBI actually controlled, in a hunt for stock manipulators.
Charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud were Andrew J. Affa, 30, of Huntington Station, N.Y.; Michael A. Affa, 34, of Toms River, N.J.; Mitchell H. Brown, 48, of Long Branch, N.J.; Christopher R. Putnam, 37; and Christopher G. Nix, 34, both of Charleston, S.C.
The SEC sued the men in Federal Court. It claims they tried to manipulate the share price of Boston-based Amogear Inc. - which they knew was an empty shell without any real business - by selling their own shares in it.
"What the parties didn't know was that the FBI controlled Amogear and used it to obtain evidence of attempted stock manipulation," the SEC said in a statement.
If convicted, they each face up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
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