Extradited From Costa
Rica, New
York Man Pleads
Guilty 15 Years After
Indictment
A New York man who lived
in Costa Rica and
avoided facing charges
for some 15 years
pleaded guilty on Monday
to fraud in connection
with a scheme to
misrepresent his
ownership of several
public companies.
Allan Stone, 62, pleaded
guilty to conspiracy and
securities fraud charges
at a hearing before U.S.
District Judge Lewis
Kaplan in New York.
Prosecutors said as part
of their scheme, Stone
and his co-conspirators
opened and controlled
brokerage accounts in
the names of friends and
relatives to conceal
their ownership in
several companies.
They allegedly raised
hundreds of thousands of
dollars through initial
public offerings and
raised additional funds
by illegally requiring
investors to sell them a
portion of their initial
investments in the form
of warrants, prosecutors
said. Warrants give the
holder the right to
purchase a stock at a
certain price,
prosecutors said.
Stone and his
co-conspirators were
able to misappropriate
more than $2 million
through their schemes,
prosecutors said.
Stone left the United
States for Costa Rica
shortly before he was
indicted in 1992,
prosecutors said. He was
extradited from there
last month.
Stone, who suffers from
several ailments
including a heart
condition, was
recommended a sentence
of 10 months to 16
months under a plea
agreement with the
government. The charges
carry a maximum sentence
of 35 years over all.
He has already spent
about 14 months in
prison in Costa Rica
during
extradition-related
proceedings, his lawyer,
Joel Dranove, said.
He is tentatively
scheduled to be
sentenced on Nov. 13.
"At long last, the saga
is drawing to a close,"
Dranove said. |
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