M&A; Charged With Selling Phony Stock

Federal regulators filed criminal and civil charges against M&A; West Inc., a San Bruno, Calif., Internet incubator that recently relocated to Liberty, Texas, as well as against former M&A; executives.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California said M&A; created four publicly traded shell companies, which the executives promoted through postings on Internet stock discussion groups.

The regulators said the executives sold $20 million worth of unregistered stock in the companies and then funneled the cash back to M&A;, which reported the money as revenue from operations that did not exist.

Separately, the SEC said it had filed a securities fraud lawsuit against a Web operator, Tri-West Investment Club, based in Belize City, Belize. Tri-West made $30 million selling phony investments over the Net, the SEC alleges.