Daytrader nabbed for fake Lucent BB posting

Enthusiasm can get you a long way - and in the case of Fred Moldofsky, a 43-year old day trader from Houston, Texas, it could take you all the way to gaol. Moldofsky has been arrested and charged with securities fraud, after allegedly engineered a fall in Lucent's share price by posting a fake press release on a Yahoo! message board last Wednesday night. The following day, Lucent's share price fell by as much as 3.6 per cent, reducing its market cap by a whopping $7.1 billion. It didn't take too long to trace Moldofsky. A trace from Yahoo! through to AOL, his service provider, took police straight to his doorstep. Now he is in deep doo doo. Moldofsky, who is accused of trading 6000 Lucent shares on the day the bogus press release was posted, faces a maximum ten-year sentence and a $1 million fine, if found guilty. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a related civil suit against him. And, we guess, that anyone who sold Lucent shares on Thursday, the day after Moldofsky is alleged to have posted the bogus press release, could have a case for suing him. The bogus press release was based on a genuine earnings warning released by Lucent on 6 January. Moldofsky is accused of posting it under the moniker "hot-like-wasabe". Accompanying this was the header: "LUCENT RELEASES EARNINGS WARNING! DAMN!". Moldofsky is also accused of reposting the fake 20 times under the name of a regular poster on the Lucent message board who was known for his bullish sentiments on the stock. ® Related Story Pairgain 'mastermind' faces huge Pairloss