John D. Mazzuto, who gave $1.5-million to Yale University last year, has been indicted on charges of fraudulently inflating the value of a business he owned and misleading investors into buying shares of his company’s stock, according to The New York Times.

A 1970 graduate of Yale, Mr. Mazzuto gave shares of the company, Industrial Enterprises of America, to Yale and to family members, friends, and other companies he controlled. The recipients then allegedly sold the shares, giving some of the profits to Industrial Enterprises, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Yale sold its shares before their value plummeted and earned about $1.5-million. The university apparently did not know that Mr. Mazzuto was issuing stocks in a way that prosecutors say was illegal, according to investigators. A spokesman for the university declined to comment on how Mr. Mazzuto’s donation was vetted.

Mr. Mazzuto’s lawyer, Richard M. Asche, denied the accusations against his client.

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