Ex-Student Ordered to Pay $500,000 for False Stock Postings

A judge ordered a former university student to pay regulators more than $500,000 for allegedly posting false messages about stocks on the Internet so he could profit from ensuing buying or selling sprees, federal regulators said. The Securities and Exchange Commission contends that Refael Shaoulian, 26, sought to manipulate the price of five stocks while he was a student at University of California, Los Angeles.