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SEC sues over alleged hoax Avon, Rocky Mountain bids


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused a Bulgarian man and several corporate defendants of submitting bogus takeover bids for Avon Products Inc and two other companies to fraudulently drive up their share prices.

    In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC accused Nedko Nedev and the other defendants of filing false tender offers on its public Edgar database and issuing fraudulent press releases to manipulate prices of AVON (AVP.NY) Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc and Tower Group International Ltd.

    The regulator said the defendants intended to sell their positions at artificially inflated prices.

    (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)