Amid SEC Probe, Waldron & Co. Fires President

Waldron & Co., the Irvine investment banking company being investigated by federal regulators for possible stock manipulation, fired its president, Cery B. Perle, on Friday.

Company sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Perle’s dismissal is linked with Waldron’s ties to Shopping.com, the troubled Internet shopping service that is also under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Some of Waldron’s staff have been subpoenaed by the SEC, which asked the employees about the investment firm’s trading practices, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Perle, who took over Waldron three years ago, could not be reached for comment. Waldron and SEC officials declined to discuss the matter.

Jonathon Wolf, a former senior vice president at Waldron, was named the company’s new president.

Perle, 36, worked at several investment houses before taking over the virtually inactive Waldron in 1995. He had declared bankruptcy in 1987 and 1993, according to court records.

After taking the reins at Waldron, Perle announced his intention to beef up the once obscure firm, hiring and training new brokers every month in an effort to boost the staff from 50 to 250.

Waldron also tried to shift into underwriting stock sales. Corona del Mar-based Shopping.com, Waldron’s second initial public offering, was supposed to help vault the investment firm into Wall Street’s big leagues.

But in March, the SEC began investigating possible stock manipulation by Shopping.com and Waldron, the principal market maker in Shopping.com shares. The online retailer went public in November, debuting at $9 a share and zooming as high as $34.50 by April despite low sales and no profits.

The investigation arose from complaints by former employees who accused the company of rigging the market, as well as several short-sellers claiming they were forced to buy Shopping.com stock at inflated prices. The traders--who bet that the price-per-share would fall--blamed the online retail firm, Waldron and Perle for forcing the stock price up and keeping it afloat.

Waldron was Shopping.com’s investment banker until June, when it was replaced by Ladenburg Thalman & Co. Waldron also was the online store’s biggest customer last year, accounting for at least 40% of its sales.

Waldron stopped trading Shopping.com’s stock in late August, and the Internet company’s share price has plunged more than 86% since Aug. 17. Shopping.com, which trades over the counter, fell $1.47 Monday, closing at $3.53 a share.