In response to the accusations, Discala's lawyer Joseph Tacopina says that his client will 'vigorously defend this case.'
- Jul 18, 2014
AceShowbiz - Seven people, including Jamie-Lynn Sigler's ex-husband Abraxas "A.J." Discala, were arrested in connection to a $300 million stock manipulation scheme, officials say. Discala was busted in Las Vegas on Thursday morning, July 17.
In an indictment unsealed at the Brooklyn Federal Court, the CEO of OmniView Capital Advisors was charged with 10 criminal counts including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. He and the others are accused of using illegal measures to control prices and trade volumes of four companies between October 2012 to July 2014.
"They took companies with essentially no assets or activity and deceived the market into believing they were worth millions," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said, as reported by NY Daily News.
Calling himself "Yoda", a character from "Star Wars" movie, the 43-year-old former actor talked about the scheme with co-defendant Victor Azrak in a phone conversation. "It's like going to the casino with their chips," he allegedly said. "You still don't know the game. Ok, listen, I'm Yoda, you're Obi-Wan, ok? You don't get him clients and look for the shtup (Yiddish slang for sex) on the 10,000. You f****** take things out and let him buy the s*** out of them. And that's how you make money."
Discala's lawyer Joseph Tacopina has commented on his client's legal problem. "Anyone who knows A.J. is shocked by these allegations, and that's exactly what they are - merely allegations," he said, adding that Discala would "vigorously defend this case."
Other people who were arrested included OmniView President Marc Wexler, CodeSmart CEO Ira Shapiro, brokers Matthew Bell and Craig Josephberg, Las Vegas lawyer Kyleen Cane and vice president of Excel Corp. Victor Azrak.
