TV Financial Commentator Arrested

A financial commentator who appeared on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg Television was arrested Monday on federal charges of failing to disclose that he received $100,000 in cash from a telemarketing company whose shares he touted.

Courtney Smith, 53, was arrested at his New York apartment after a federal grand jury handed up a nine-count indictment, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. If convicted of all counts, he could face as much as 45 years in prison.

Smith promoted the stock of now-defunct GenesisIntermedia Inc. of Van Nuys as a “very hot speculative pick” and “very cheap from my perspective” during television appearances from late 1999 to mid-2001, according to the indictment.

Unknown to viewers, Smith received cash and 72,000 shares in the company valued at $1.2 million.

Smith’s recommendation of GenesisIntermedia as a “Double Your Money Pick” during a Feb. 25, 2000, appearance on CNBC prompted the company’s shares to rise 58%. The company reported losses of $8.2 million in 1999, $33.5 million in 2000 and $119 million in the first three quarters of 2001 before it shut down.

Neither Smith nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

GenesisIntermedia sold the “Ab-Twister” exercise device and “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” relationship products through infomercials. The company also attempted to place Internet kiosks in shopping malls.