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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil fraud charges against twin brothers from the United Kingdom, claiming that they set up an elaborate market manipulation scheme at the age of 16 that netted them millions of dollars. The brothers claimed to have created a "stock picking robot" that could identify penny stocks that would rise in value. They then convinced 75,000 investors to subscribe to a tout sheet based on the robot, called the Doubling Stocks newsletter. At the same time, they secretly charged stock promoters fees to have stocks placed in the newsletter. In all, the brothers netted $1.2-million in subscription fees from their newsletter and $1.8-million in promotion fees, the SEC says. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

The charges are contained in a civil complaint the SEC filed against the brothers on Friday, April 20, in the Southern District of New York. It names as defendants Thomas Edward Hunter and Alexander John Hunter, now both 20 years old. The complaint identifies 12 stocks the brothers promoted in 2007 and 2008. They include Holloman Energy Corp., an OTC Bulletin Board listing with ties to Vancouver, and UOMO Media Inc., an OTC-BB listing based in Toronto.

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