The company that hired now-deceased Ray Rivera to edit a pricey financial newsletter has a stern rebuke from Wall Street regulators, many irate investors and hard-to-reach management.
And the Securities and Exchange Commission wants the company to shut down.
Agora Inc., based in Baltimore, publishes several books, magazines and newsletters and operates 15 financial Web sites in the United States and Europe, according to a November 2003 SEC complaint.
The publications have more than 21,000 paid subscribers, with some paying $2,500 annually.
Rivera?s body was found May 24 in The Belvedere. A screenwriter, Rivera had a contract to edit “The Rebound,” an Agora publication specializing in turnaround companies.
The SEC?s wrath descended on Agora and several of its publications after Frank Porter Stansberry, an editor of two Agora Internet newsletters, promised subscribers would “make a fortune” if they followed his tip, for which the company charged $1,000.
In tough language, the SEC complaint contends Stansberry?s advice was nothing more than “outright lies fabricated to induce investors to pay Agora (or its subsidiaries) for subscriptions or purported inside information.”
The complaint details how Stansberry allegedly urged investors via e-mail on May 22, 2002, to pay $1,000 for a “super insider tip” about the name of a company that he said could double their money.
The tip was useless and based on lies and false information from Stansberry, the SEC said. Investors lost money by paying for the tip and the resulting stock price plunge of the company, according to the complaint.
Agora publications regularly offer fraudulent investment advice, the SEC says.
Several calls to Agora for comment were not returned.
In Internet blogs, angry investors discuss how they were duped into following Agora?s investment advice.
In its complaint, the SEC asks a judge to issue an order “permanently enjoining” Agora from doing business and require the company and its officers to pay fines.
The SEC complaint was filed in November 2003. No decision has been issued by the court.
TIMELINE
» May 2002: Agora publications urge investors to pay $1,000 for insider tip
» November 2003: Security and Exchange Commission files complaint against Agora
» May 2006: Ray Rivera, editor of an Agora financial newsletter, is found dead
