A Long Island man has been indicted for allegedly scamming $5 million from investors who thought they were getting in on the ground floor of a new fuel cell company.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says Suffolk resident George Doumanis conspired with two other people to create a fake paper trail and trick investors into buying shares of his company, Terminus.
In 2003, he was convicted of a similar crime in Florida and was banned by the Securities and Exchange Commission from offering stocks.
Prosecutors say Doumanis and his partners faked press releases, stock risk disclosures and business plans. They used the stolen money to pay for their credit card bills, a Mercedes-Benz and a horse trainer.
They were charged for conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Bail is set at $250,000.