SEC charges 'CHiPs' actor of securities fraud

[October 08, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators have accused the actor who played a California highway officer in the 1970s TV series "CHiPs" of securities fraud.

The scheme involving actor Larry Wilcox was one of several kickback operations run by more than a dozen small-company stock promoters, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. The SEC charged Wilcox and the others in lawsuits filed in Miami federal court. The 63-year-old Wilcox, of West Hills, Calif., played Officer Jonathan "Jon" Baker on "CHiPs."

The SEC says the promoters were caught in an FBI undercover sting operation offering to pay kickbacks to pension-fund managers or stockbrokers for using their clients' funds to buy penny stocks.

Wilcox's lawyer didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

[Associated Press]

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