Timing doesn’t get much worse than this.

Consider Rami El-Batrawi, founder and chairman of GenesisIntermedia Inc., the Van Nuys consumer marketing and advertising firm.

Early last month, El-Batrawi purchased 1.3 million shares of his company’s stock at an average price of $17.64 a share, making him the number two inside purchaser of a U.S. stock in September, second only to Roger Penske, according to Bloomberg News.

“I feel more confident than ever that my own personal investment in GenesisIntermedia is a sound decision based on an investment philosophy oriented toward long-term growth,” El-Batrawi wrote in a shareholder letter.

But that was before Sept. 11 and the widespread market turbulence, which the company cited on Sept. 19 in halting a 3-for-1 stock split as its issue slid.

It also was before Nasdaq halted trading in the stock Sept. 25 at $5.90 a share while it launched an undisclosed investigation into the company. Nasdaq officials have refused comment on their investigation, and the company isn’t either, aside to say it is cooperating.

The bottom line?

In little less than a month, the cumulative value of El-Batrawi’s stock he purchased fell from $23.5 million to $7.8 million a whopping 67 percent loss in value. There’s no word yet if and when Nasdaq officials will allow trading to resume.