back to article Notorious spammer Ralsky pleads guilty to stock scam

Notorious spammer Alan Ralsky faces up to 87 months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to participation in a pump-and-dump stock spam scam. Ralsky, 64, of West Bloomfield, Michigan and four accomplices pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to various wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and CAN-SPAM Act offences, as part …

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  1. Ian Michael Gumby

    Karma can be a bitch!

    So they net 3 million, pay a penalty of 1 million and are sentenced to 6 years? Time off for good behavior and that goes to 3 years of prison, most likely in a 'club fed'.

    If they invest the 2 million not recovered at 7%, then by the time they get out, it would have doubled to 4 million. If they did this with money stashed offshore, they would have made more money.

    Not a bad way to start a retirement fund.

    At least he's off the street.

    If there is a ghod, I hope they go in to the system as a regular criminal and meet some guys named Bubba.

  2. Yorkshirepudding
    Alert

    nuke them from orbit.....

    .....be sure its the only way

  3. Simon 6

    Of course crime pays

    He's been doing it for years, he's admitted to doing it for years. thousands of people (Gullible but still...) are broke and he's earned millions for his most recent scam.

    Total Jail time: Counted in months.

    I could probably get more jail time parked on a single yellow line with my engine running!

    Ok, I know a company that I know will greatly increase in shares very soon. Just email me insidertrading@im-going-to-earn-a-million-in-interest-while-in-prison.com

  4. TeeCee Gold badge
    Happy

    Re: If there is a ghod...

    No need. Far better would be to get some white hats to "edit" their records in the penal system's computers so it looks like they've actually been sent down for kiddie fiddling.

    A bit like poetic justice, but with added showertime fun moments.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    re: crime pays and @Ian Michael Gumby

    You guys aren't doing the maths right.

    3 million dollars divided by seven years in the slammer divided by at least eight ways the money had to be split... you forgot that last part. I make it around fifty k bucks per year, which is a shitty rate of pay for working in mickey d's never mind having to spend that time in jail.

    The rules still apply. Spammers are still stupid.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Wait a sec...

    ...these guys manage to pull a few million using nothing but a few hundred (thousand?) "owned" computers and the gullibility of stoopid people?

    Jail -- heck, NO!! Instead, beg them to run Citi. Or Northern Rock. Or Bear Stearns. Or... Now THAT lot of frickin bagbiters took home a hell of a lot more money, don't get jail time, and bilked hundreds of millions of people out of hundreds of billions of dollars. By comparison, Ralsky & Co. are paragons of corporate virtue. The only difference is one of degree; in essence (pump & dump; false claims for garbage investments), they did nothing that bank execs don't demand tens of millions of dollars to do.

  7. Aldous
    FAIL

    @AC 18:28 - er what?

    "I make it around fifty k bucks per year, which is a shitty rate of pay for working in mickey d's never mind having to spend that time in jail."

    i make that to be £30417.33 still a hell of alot bigger then the amount i'm paid working a shitty convience store job t o pay for my uni whilst being assaulted by chavs on the way home and constantly abused by plod about underage sales (worked since 16 no underage sales) when they CBA to do anything about proxy buying and instead chase the clerks

  8. Mike007 Bronze badge

    hmm

    that's just the money from one scam...

    i'm in the wrong line of business!

  9. Greg 10

    @Ian Michael Gumby: do your maths

    First, it's not 2 millions, but 1. EACH faces a $1 million fine.

    But even without that reading mistake, can you explain to me how placing 2 millions at 7% a year during the 3 years you said they'd spend in prison (or even 6, for that matter) makes 4 millions?

    I would be really, really interested, as apparently the maths I've learned are not even remotely similar to yours, and yours seems much more profitable.

    3 years compound interest at 7% nets ME $450,086. I'm glad some other people make more out of those same 7%.

    Not that it has anything whatsoever to do with the subject, but if that can help you avoid conjuring up numbers out of thin air...

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