SEC targets radio show

The feds are accusing a Bev Hills firm, NewPoint Financial Services, of defrauding Iranian immigrants in a $20-million scam that originated on Farsi-language radio station KIRN-AM. Folks got snookered on some sort of investment show, being told that their money would go into FDIC-insured CDs, government bonds, or corporate bonds that had been issued by companies backed by TARP funds. Surprise. The SEC suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, says that more than $18 million was lost on risky options trading in 2008 and 2009 alone. NewPoint co-owners John Farahi and Gissou Rastegar Farahi (his wife) supposedly used some of the money to build a multimillion-dollar home in Bev Hills. Natch. (Business Journal)