Spammer & Accomplices Indicted on Charges of Stock Fraud

The 52-year-old notorious American spammer, Alan Ralsky, was one of the 11 persons charged in an indictment on January 3, 2008, that was initiated against scamming individuals who had tried to rig the Chinese share prices.

A West Bloomfield Township native, Ralsky had single-handedly turned a profit of around $3 Million out of this scam in the year 2005, alleged Stephen Murphy, the U.S. Attorney, as reported on January 3, 2008 by ap.google.com.

Ralsky and his accomplices are likely to face up to 20 years imprisonment as punishment and a penalty of $250,000 in lieu of charges framed against them. Some other accusations encompass money laundering, spamming and e-crime. The government is also petitioning for forfeiture of bank accounts, real estate, brokerage accounts and insurance policies collectively amounting to $2.7 Million, as reported by Associated Press on January 3, 2008.

Known as the "the poster boy of spam", Ralsky is notorious for his sensational legal fights concerning spamming activities that pushes things like mortgages to shares to diet capsules.

Even though the main suspect Ralsky continued to abscond till late January 3, 2008, but Scott Bradley, his son-in-law, was apprehended on the same day together with another suspect, Judy Devenow, after which they both were presented in the federal court for indictment, the Department of Justice announced, as reported on January 3, 2008 by CNN.com.

How Wai John Hui, a dual citizen of Hong Kong and Canada, the third accused, was also caught in New York on January 2, 2008, reported CNN.com.

It is understood that along with Ralsky, seven other suspects were on the loose, and said to be in Europe. The lawyer of Ralsky, Cleveland's Philip Kushner, assured The Detroit News that Ralsky would surrender before the federal authorities in a couple of days.

According to the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Postal Service had exposed a "pump-and-dump fraudulent scheme" after a three-year probe leading to the current charges.

As per attorney Murphy, the latest charges tries to eradicate one of the major unlawful spamming and criminal offenses in the nation, reported CNN.com on January 3, 2008.

Related article: Spammers Continue their Campaigns Successfully

» SPAMfighter News - 1/19/2008