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Tampa man arrested in connection with penny stock scam

 
Published Feb. 27, 2015

A Tampa man has been arrested on nearly 70 criminal charges in connection with a penny stock scam in which he promised investigators that a website would become the next Facebook for children.

Allan Roth, 57, was arrested Thursday on 34 charges of selling unregistered securities and 34 counts of selling securities without being registered, according to a news release from the state Office of Financial Regulation.

Roth was being held at the Hillsborough County Jail on $340,000 bail Friday but will be prosecuted in Pinellas County, state officials said.

Officials said Roth,a former securities broker, pitched a penny stock investment to former clients for a website that would be like Facebook for children. He collected more than $295,000 from 20 people, only one of whom saw a return on the investment, state officials said.