SEC, Britain Target Former Centennial Chief

A British court has frozen the assets of a company allegedly used by Emanuel Pinez, the former chairman and chief executive of Centennial Technologies Inc., for insider trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. The Royal Court of Jersey ordered $965,000 in assets of Felix Inc., an offshore corporation headquartered in Jersey, frozen after the SEC filed its complaint. The SEC is charging that Pinez used Felix as a shell corporation to engage in insider trading. Pinez, in jail awaiting trial on insider trading and fraud charges in the United States, has had his assets frozen. But, according to the SEC, Felix holds about $965,000 from the sale of Centennial stock in early February. Billerica, Mass.-based Centennial was the biggest gainer on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996, zooming to $55.50 a share on Dec. 30, a gain of 447%. The exchange delisted Centennial less than three months later, after the charges against Pinez were filed.