Con man-turned-pastor Barry Minkow accused of securities fraud

On Thursday, the government filed a securities fraud charge against Minkow, which could send him back to prison for five years.
Minkow has agreed to plead guilty to the charge, filed in Miami, and will “take responsibility for what he did,” said Alvin Entin, his attorney.
Minkow, 44, artificially depressed the stock of a home-building company by spreading false information that it was engaged in fraud, the government said in a court filing.
He induced a law enforcement agency to open a criminal investigation of the company and then traded on his knowledge of it, the government said. The Justice Department described Minkow as a “confidential human source” for the FBI.
“With full knowledge of the rules and his obligations as a litigant in this Court, Mr. Minkow has withheld key documents, destroyed or discarded important evidence, concealed the identity of material witnesses, willfully violated court orders, and engaged in actions to cloud his misconduct,” Florida Judge Gill S. Freeman wrote. Minkow admitted that he had used funds from the San Diego Community Bible Church to pay a business expense, the judge wrote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/con-man-turned-pastor-barry-minkow-accused-of-securities-fraud/2011/03/24/ABdqqSRB_story.html