According to a report in The Independent newspaper, Alexander and Thomas Hunter were aged just 16 when they pretended they had created a ‘stock-picking robot’ that supposedly could predict when a share would rapidly increase in value.
Share tips
The scheme – described as a classic ‘pump and dump’ by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for pumping up interest and then dumping shares – saw 75,000 investors from around the globe pay the brothers $1.2 million over three years for share tips. Other scam promoters also paid the brothers $1.9m to hype dodgy stock through newsletters and e-mails.
Alexander Hunter, now 21, was convicted of four charges of unauthorised trading last November at Newcastle Crown Court and also ordered to pay back the investors.
Huge fines
However, the SEC is now suing both brothers in relation to the scheme, which could result in huge fines. The SEC also alleges that Thomas Hunter set up a company in Panama to continue the scheme after their British bank account was frozen in 2009.
Thomas Sporkin, chief of the SEC's office of market intelligence, said in a statement: ‘The Hunters used the anonymity of the internet and the premise of easy riches to prey on investors.’
Share tips
The scheme – described as a classic ‘pump and dump’ by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for pumping up interest and then dumping shares – saw 75,000 investors from around the globe pay the brothers $1.2 million over three years for share tips. Other scam promoters also paid the brothers $1.9m to hype dodgy stock through newsletters and e-mails.
Alexander Hunter, now 21, was convicted of four charges of unauthorised trading last November at Newcastle Crown Court and also ordered to pay back the investors.
Huge fines
However, the SEC is now suing both brothers in relation to the scheme, which could result in huge fines. The SEC also alleges that Thomas Hunter set up a company in Panama to continue the scheme after their British bank account was frozen in 2009.
Thomas Sporkin, chief of the SEC's office of market intelligence, said in a statement: ‘The Hunters used the anonymity of the internet and the premise of easy riches to prey on investors.’
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