A man who police claim was one of the world's worst spammers has been charged, with 11 others, with using botnets to manipulate Chinese stock prices.

Alan Ralsky, 52, of suburban West Bloomfield Township, made about $3 million through the scheme in summer 2005. U.S. Justice Department Attorney Stephen Murphy said that Ralsky and the other defendants sent tens of millions of e-mail messages to computers worldwide, trying to inflate prices for Chinese penny stocks.

When investors pushed up the price of the stocks, Ralsky sold them at inflated prices. The U.S. government wants forfeiture of real estate, brokerage accounts, bank accounts and life insurance policies, worth a combined $2.7 million.