MONEY SAVVY WEEKEND : Savvy Confidential: A Briefing for Investors : More Admissions in Stratton Fraud Case

The former chairman and the president of New York-based Stratton Oakmont Inc., a defunct brokerage firm, have pleaded guilty to an expanded series of stock fraud charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Former Chairman Jordan Belfort, 37, and Daniel Porush, 42, who was president of the firm, had already pleaded guilty several months ago to two counts each of conspiracy to commit stock fraud and money laundering in a scheme that lasted from 1990 to 1997.

The additional pleadings indicate that the fraud at Stratton was greater than previously disclosed.

Belfort and Porush each pleaded guilty to eight new criminal counts, including manipulating the prices of at least 34 initial public offerings Stratton underwrote and money laundering now believed to total at least $80 million.

They face a maximum of 20 years in prison, plus millions in fines and restitution. No sentencing date has been set.