A Kuwaiti reportedly committed suicide, days after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with manipulating shares of Harman International Industries Inc., then reaping millions of dollars in trades.
The SEC said Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan issued a bogus press release purporting a tender offer by a Middle East investment group to acquire Harman, a Stamford-based maker of audio systems. The phony announcement was faxed to media outlets on Sunday, July 19, and Harman”™s share price climbed more than 40 percent in pre-market trading on Monday, July 20 before the company stated it had received no such tender offer.
The SEC stated a similar ploy affected shares of Providence, R.I.-based Textron in April.
Al-Braikan was found dead July 26 of a gunshot wound to the head and investigators believe he committed suicide, according to a Bloomberg News report citing an official with the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry.
