PairGain Hoax Suspect Likely to Plead Guilty

The North Carolina man accused of perpetrating an online hoax against Tustin-based PairGain Technologies last April is expected to plead guilty on Monday to two counts of securities fraud, federal officials said Friday. Gary Hoke, who was then an employee of PairGain, allegedly created a fake Bloomberg News Service Web page to fool investors into thinking that an Israeli company was acquiring PairGain. The company’s stock went up sharply on the report, which fooled many investors. Investigators traced Hoke using an electronic trail he left behind. Hoke had been indicted on five counts of fraud and had been set to stand trial in July in federal court in Los Angeles. He had been free on $50,000 bond. Under the plea agreement, Hoke will state that he did not actually profit from the hoax and that he did not tell anyone else to trade in PairGain because of it, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Painter.