Penny-Stock Scammer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Hatched in Prison

A penny-stock swindler pleaded guilty to a $15 million scam prosecutors say he launched while still serving a 10-year prison sentence for an earlier fraud (United States v. Durante, S.D.N.Y., 1:15-cr-00171, guilty plea 8/23/16).

Edward Durante pleaded guilty Aug. 23 to a plot in which he used a network of unwitting brokers and investment advisers to sell shares in an online sweepstakes company called VGTel Inc. More than 100 victims were told that the shares, which Durante secretly controlled, would rise from $1 to as high as $50. The investors believed they were buying stock from the issuer, rather ...