NEW YORK—The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Medallion Financial Corp. and its president with fraud for trying to inflate the stock price of the lender to taxicab medallion buyers, amid competition from Uber and Lyft.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, the SEC said Medallion and President Andrew Murstein paid a California media strategist to anonymously promote Medallion on websites including Huffington Post, Seeking Alpha, TheStreet.com, and Crain’s New York Business.
