The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition that the mastermind of a $300-million penny stock swindle has pleaded guilty in New York and will, as part of the deal, forfeit two valuable B.C. properties. The Sun's Jeff Lee writes that Gregg R. Mulholland pleaded guilty Monday to money laundering and participation in fraudulently manipulating the stocks of more than 40 publicly traded companies. He was arrested by U.S. authorities last year when his non-stop flight from Vancouver to Mexico was forced to make an unplanned stop in Phoenix, Ariz. Mr. Mulholland, 46, was accused along with several others of filtering the profits of a number of so-called pump-and-dump stock manipulation schemes through at least five offshore law firms. In one penny stock deal alone, Cynk Technology Corp., which was listed on the publicly traded OTC Markets or pink sheet board, Mr. Mulholland and others successfully ran the stock up from seven cents per share to $17.90 before trading was halted. As part of the plea deal, Mr. Mulholland has agreed to forfeit his West Vancouver home at 3630 Mathers Ave., which he bought in late 2014 for $4.85-million, along with a $2-million Whistler lot his wife Delia has been trying to sell.