Florida investor charged for selling $8 mln ‘fake Facebook shares’ ahead of IPO

March 19, 2013 | Business | Written by

Sydney, Mar 20: A Florida investment adviser has been charged with selling 8 million dollars of fake Facebook shares ahead of the firms highly anticipating public offering.

According to the Justice Department, Craig Berkman, 71, was arrested on two separate securities fraud schemes involving Facebook shares.

Berkman received a total of at least 8 million dollars from these schemes, most of which he “misappropriated for his own benefit”, the Justice Department said.

According to officials, Berkman said his Ventures Trust II LLC falsely claimed to own shares in Facebook as early as 2010, more than a year before its IPO.

The case is not related to questions about the underwriting or valuation of the Facebook IPO last year, the report said.

The shares slid from an offering price of 38 dollars, losing more than half their value, before recovering some of the losses, it added. (ANI)