CHICAGO, March 22 -- Five Malaysians have been charged in the United States for their alleged involvement in a US$214 million (RM950 million) "pump-and-dump" investment fraud scheme.

A press release issued by the US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois yesterday, and posted on the US Department of Justice website, said the accused Malaysians are Lim Xiang Jie, Ko Sen Chai, King Sung Wong, Siong Wee Vun, and Kok Wah Wong, who, along with two Taiwanese nationals, Chien Lung Ma and Ming-Shen Cheng, allegedly manipulated stock prices for profit.

"The misleading promotion and coordinated trading caused the stock price to artificially rise, at which point the defendants sold thousands of shares and made millions of dollars in prof...