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Radio stock scam charged
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April 15, 1998: 4:08 p.m. ET
U.S. Attorney says syndicated show's host was paid to tout stocks on the air
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- A Bethesda, Md.-based radio show host was charged Wednesday with fraud in connection with a stock-touting scheme.
Jerry Wenger, host of the syndicated radio show "The Next Superstock," and 18 others were indicted on counts of fraud and illegal gambling, said Mary Jo White, U.S. Attorney for the Southern district of New York. White also said a number of the people involved in the scam were operating as unlicensed stock brokers.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Wenger was being paid to tout three over-the-counter stocks but didn't disclose that fact to the show's listeners.
White said the scam cost hundreds of victims more than $2 million.
Marvin Smilon, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in the Southern district of New York, said the scheme occurred in 1997 and early this year. He said the over-the-counter stocks involved were Transco Research Corp., Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc. and Child/Grip, Inc.
Smilon said several of the defendants are affiliated with Wise Choice Discount Brokerage Inc., although the firm itself was not charged. Two of the defendants also are charged with running an illegal gambling operation and with using the proceeds of the scam to pay off their gambling debts.
Two of the key defendants are Avin Bakal, who is charged with operating as an unlicensed broker, and Olawande Agunloye, who is alleged to be the head of Wise Choice Discount Brokerage.
The charges carry penalties of five to 10 years per count, Smilon said. 
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