The US of A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges to be entitled to sue Mr Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan, CEO financier of Kuwait’s Al-Raya Investment Co, and three related entities for making bogus bids to manipulate the stock prices of Harman International Industries Inc and Textron Inc.

The SEC says that Al-Braikan profited from amassing large positions in securities, thereby making millions of US of A dollars in trading profits following the dissemination of false news about the two corporations. (1)

At whose expense did Al-Braikan violate SEC rules?

Who lost money?

This happens barely a fortnight after the SEC’s top inspector, Lori Richards, was forced to leave the agency after a year in which her office and the enforcement division was accused of failing to spot Mr Bernard Madoff’s US dollar 65 billion fraud. (2) 

For your information: In the Madoff case, there were victims.

Al-Braikan is suspected of having committed a victimless crime.

Ivo Cerckel
honestmoney@maktoob.com
http://twitter.com/ivocerckel/

NOTES

(1)
SEC Charges Foreign Trader and Entities in Scheme Occurring Earlier This Week
Agency Obtains Court Order Freezing Several Million Dollars in Trading Accounts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2009-169
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-169.htm
SNIP
Washington, D.C., July 23, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a trader located in Kuwait and three related foreign entities for engaging in an illicit scheme through which they reaped millions of dollars in profits when trading around hoax offers to acquire U.S. companies. The SEC has obtained an emergency court order to freeze more than $5 million in trading profits located in various U.S. accounts in their names.
The SEC filed its charges and obtained the asset freeze within days of the latest hoax offer. The SEC alleges that Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan and the related entities traded around false news of a purported tender offer by a Middle East investment group to acquire Harman International Industries. A phony announcement publicizing the hoax offer was faxed to media outlets on Sunday, July 19, and subsequently reported on the Internet. Harman’s share price climbed more than 40 percent in pre-market trading on Monday, July 20.
+
Additional Materials
Litigation Release No. 21152
SNIP
“This case exemplifies the SEC’s swift and surgical investigative skills and our determination to follow the trail wherever it leads,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. UNSNIP

(2)
SEC top examiner Richards to leave agency
Reuters - Thursday, July 9
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090709/tbs-business-us-sec-richards-7318940.html
SNIP
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s top inspector, Lori Richards, is leaving the agency after a year in which her office and the enforcement division was accused of failing to spot Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion fraud.