Medallion Financial Corp.’s general counsel and chief compliance officer “responded falsely” to a reporter who raised questions about the company’s alleged involvement in illegal schemes to buoy the New York-based taxi medallion lender’s faltering stock price, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC alleges that from 2014 to 2017 Medallion and its president and chief operating officer, Andrew Murstein, paid “stealth” public relations firm Ichabod’s Cranium Inc. and a contractor to anonymously promote the company through stories and comments that appeared on Huffington Post, Seeking Alpha, TheStreet.com and other websites.