Local Ponzi

The SEC announced fraud charges against two Westchester County, NY, men — Laurence M. Brown and Ronald Man gini — who allegedly sold investors fake notes and stock in a nonexistent gas-pipeline company, perpetrating a $2.1 million Ponzi scheme.

Dell settles

Dell agreed to pay $100 million and CEO Michael Dell will pay an addi tional $4 million to settle US regulatory claims that the company used fraud ulent accounting to meet earnings targets.

BP stake

BP wants to sell its stake in Argentine unit Pan American Energy for $9 billion.

Citi sale

Citigroup may sell as much as $21 billion of debt this year, up from an earlier target of $15 bil lion.

UPS up big

UPS reported net in come of $845 million in the second quarter, up from $445 million from a year earlier.

Sad movie

Netflix shares fell the most since October 2008 — sliding $16.09 to close at $103.56. Second-quarter sales rose 27 percent to $519.8 million, but missed analysts’ estimates.