The SEC announced that George Georgiou, of Toronto, Ontario, was sentenced in a parallel criminal action for his role in manipulating the market in 4 separate microcap stocks - Avicena Group;  Neutron Enterprises;  Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies;  Northern Ethanol.  Georgiou was sentenced Georgiou to 25 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay nearly $56 million in restitution. 

Georgiou was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy, and wire fraud on 2/12/10 after a 3-week jury trial prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, PA.  The SEC previously filed a civil injunctive action against Georgiou based on the same conduct - which cited that, from 2004 through September 2008, Georgiou controlled the publicly-traded stock of each company, and manipulated the market so as to artificially inflate each company's stock price or to create the false appearance of an active and liquid market. 

    How He Did It?   Georgiou used many nominee accounts that he either directly or indirectly controlled at offshore broker-dealers and banks, and used a variety of manipulative techniques, including matched orders and wash sales. The Commission's action is currently stayed.  

[SEC Litigation Rel. 21751, 11/22;  further details in Litigation Rels. 21426 (2/25/10), 20899 (2/12/09)]