Brokerage Officials Accused of Inflating Prices
Two former executives of a defunct New York brokerage were arrested Monday and charged with netting $3 million for the company by illegally manipulating securities of two companies, including United Leisure Corp. in Fountain Valley.
New York authorities accused the defendants of gaining control of the trading in securities of United Leisure and Steven Madden Ltd. before artificially increasing the bid price and selling shares to investors.
Alan Scott Lipsky, 35, president and co-owner of Purchase, N.Y.-based Monroe Parker Securities Inc., and Richard Levitov, 57, the chief compliance officer, were arraigned in Town Court in Harrison, in New York’s Westchester County, on charges of scheming to defraud, grand larceny and securities fraud.
Last week, Bryan Herman, a co-owner of the firm, and Ralph Angeline, formerly the head trader, were arraigned on similar charges.
The New York attorney general’s office alleges Lipsky and Herman personally took in $1.1 million in connection with Steven Madden and $1.3 million linked to United Leisure, said Marc Wurzel, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco.
The National Assn. of Securities Dealers charged the four men in January with manipulating United Leisure and Steven Madden stock. The Monroe Parker brokerage went out of business in anticipation of those regulatory allegations, a lawyer for the men and the company said at the time.
The lawyer, Bill Singer of New York, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. In January, he contended the NASD had harassed Monroe Parker since the brokerage opened in 1994 with a series of investigations that Singer called unnecessary and “dirty pool.”
Steven Madden is a women’s shoemaker based in Long Island City, New York. United Leisure runs California day camps and play centers.
United Leisure’s chief executive, Harry Shuster, who owns 30% of the company’s common stock, didn’t return a call for comment Monday.
The company’s stock climbed 3 cents per share Monday, closing at 28 cents in Nasdaq trading.
