Shares scam spammer jailed

Popular online share dealing sites were also targeted

A court in Australia has jailed a man for "spamming" millions of e-mail users around the world with false financial information.

George Hourmouzis, 24, was sentenced by the court in Melbourne after pleading guilty to two charges of making a false statement on the internet.

The court heard that Hourmouzis had claimed in more than four million unsolicited e-mails that shares in the US company Rentech would soar 900% from around $0.33 to more than $3 after pending patents were released by the company.

More than four million e-mails were sent around the world

After the e-emails were sent in May last year Rentech stocks, which are listed on the technology-rich Nasdaq index, more than doubled in price.

According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 19 May trading in the company's shares rose by more than 1,600%, leading Nasdaq to halt trading of Rentech stock.

Junk mail

The e-mails were sent to users primarily in Australia and North America.

Trading in Rentech shares was briefly suspended as a result of the spam

Popular share dealing noticeboards such as Yahoo and Raging Bull were also targeted.

Australian officials say the case is one of the first such prosecutions for "spamming" - the practice of sending out vast amounts of junk e-mail which regularly clogs up internet servers around the world.

"This case highlighted the fact that transmission of messages through the internet is not anonymous as many tend to believe," Jaime Orchard, director of enforcement for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission told the Reuters news agency.

'Powerful tool'

Hourmouzis, who is thought to have netted some $8,800 from the scam, was jailed for two years although the judge suspended 21 months leaving him three months to serve.

Sentencing him, Judge Barton Stott described the internet as a "powerful tool with global application" - its misuse, he said, "had the potential to cause immense harm".

He added that Hourmouzis had e-mailed a friend about his activities, saying: "This is illegal, but I like it".

An associate of Hourmouzis, Queensland resident Wayne Loughnan, is expected to face trial on similar charges next month.