Co-Founder of Comic Company Pleads Guilty

Peter Paul, who co-founded Stan Lee Media Inc. with comic book legend Stan Lee, has pleaded guilty to bilking investors out of $25 million, federal prosecutors said.

Paul, 56, pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., to leading a scheme to manipulate the share price of the defunct Encino-based company, including transactions in which Paul secretly borrowed money using the stock as collateral. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Paul is a central figure in an ongoing federal probe into a 2000 campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) that Paul bankrolled. David Rosen, who raised money for the campaign, was indicted in January in Los Angeles on charges of lying about the amount collected and spent during the gala.