LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GenesisIntermedia (GENI) and its CEO Ramy El-Batrawi were the victims of Anthony Elgindy and FBI agent Jeffrey Royer. In mid 2001, in an effort to put pressure on the stock and drive it down, Elgindy had Royer call the SEC to start an investigation of GENI and its CEO Ramy El-Batrawi with false information. Elgindy also pressured Mr. El-Batrawi for stock at a discount to cover his and his associates' short positions. The former FBI agent and Elgindy were convicted in January 2005 of mining government computers for confidential information they used to manipulate the stock market. Former FBI agent Royer was convicted of racketeering, securities fraud, obstruction of justice and witness tampering for leaking details of FBI investigations and executives' criminal histories to San Diego stock player Anthony Elgindy. Elgindy was convicted of racketeering, securities fraud and extortion. Prosecutors said Elgindy bet against stocks and drove down their prices by publicizing damaging information he received from Royer and others. Elgindy also personally extorted companies by offering to withhold the information in exchange for cash payments, prosecutors alleged. "Under the guise of protecting investors from fraud, Royer and Elgindy used the FBI's crime-fighting tools and resources actually to defraud the public. In fact it was determined that Elgindy, Royer and their associates profited from the information, rather than use it for legal means. Royer was an FBI agent in the Gallup, N.M., office investigating mostly crimes on Indian tribal land. It was alleged that Royer thought Elgindy would help him to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in his personal debt and hire him as a private investigator upon leaving the FBI. Royer did leave the FBI and go to work for Elgindy, just prior to being taken into custody; along with other members of the organization. According to the transcripts of the US Prosecutors case against Anthony Elgindy, Elgindy reached out to the SEC to investigate companies they have taken a short interest in. The Elgindy trial contained testimony from SEC Attorneys whom Elgindy contacted regarding investigations he started. The interest by the short seller is to cast a negative light on the target company in order to drive down the stock and create profits on their short positions. Case transcripts http://www.siliconinvestor.com/subject.aspx?subjectid=56050&LastNum=7&NumMsgs= 10 Elgindy received 11 years, Royer is awaiting sentencing. DATASOURCE: GenesisIntermedia CONTACT: Ramy El-Batrawi of GenesisIntermedia, +1-310-721-7269

Copyright