Harley-Davidson (TG:HAR)
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday charged a Kuwait-based trader and three related foreign entities with making millions in trading profits following the dissemination of false news about a U.S. company.

The SEC's civil lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan federal court, accuses Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan, United Gulf Bank, KIPCO Asset Management Co. and Al-Raya Investment Co. of trading based on a fake press release claiming that a Middle Eastern investment group planned to acquire Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR).

The fake press release was faxed around to media outlets on July 19, causing Harman's share prices to climb by more than 40% in pre-trading the following day, the SEC said.

"This case exemplifies the SEC's swift and surgical investigative skills and our determination to follow the trail wherever it leads," said Robert Khuzami, the director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. The SEC said it has already received an emergency order to freeze more than $5 million in trading profits sitting in various U.S. accounts in the defendants' names.

- By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@dowjones.com