The two were also ordered to pay an undetermined amount of penalties. The two men, along with a third defendant, Allen Derzakharian, were charged in December 1999 with manipulating the stock of NEI, a now defunct commercial printing company from Dallas, Texas. Derzakharian is also an Iranian citizen. The case against Aziz-Golshani was still pending, the SEC said. Molayem agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations.
People can claim to be any sort of expert and there's no easy way to verify their claims.
U.S. officials are also issuing renewed warnings to investors to beware of misleading information. Securities experts also advise investors to avoid thinly traded, unknown companies. These are likely targets of misinformation and can be greatly affected by relatively small trades. Larger blue-chip companies are less likely to be affected by the efforts of a few deceptive individuals.