The allegations read: Complaint no. Caf980002 filed february 6, 1998 by the
department of enforcement against john fiero and others alleging violations of nasd rules 2110, 2120, 3110 and 3370 in that fiero engaged in manipulative conduct in violation of section 10(b) of the securities exchange act of 1934, and rule 10b-5 thereunder through collusion, and engaging in a manipulative "bear raid" to drive down the price of 10 nasdaq securities underwritten by a defunct broker/dealer. The respondents, acting through their own proprietary trading and market making accounts, and in conjunction with others, engaged in a month-and-a-half long program of short selling these securities and participated in the promulgation of negative stories about the firm and certain of the securities over a nationally-televised cable broadcast; fiero and others engaged in short sales in proprietary accounts while not registered as a market maker and without the requisite affirmative determination requirement, and fiero engaged in short sales transactions that were not bona fide market making transactions.
