SEC Charges Robert Milligan With Securities Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 18, 2015 charges against Robert DeWayne Milligan, who was president of a California-based business known as America’s Natural Energy (“ANE”), for engaging in the fraudulent offering of unregistered securities.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, from at least May 2010 through May 2014, Milligan raised over $1.3 million from approximately 39 investors in multiple states for ANE, which he represented to be a business engaged in oil and gas exploration in the Williston Basin of North and South Dakota. According to the complaint, ANE was, in reality, primarily a scheme that Milligan used to fund his personal lifestyle, which included cash withdrawals, gambling, travel, and shopping. The SEC alleges that, in raising funds from investors, Milligan made material misstatements and omissions regarding, among other things, the status of ANE’s drilling projects, his business experience, and the use of investor funds, including his transfer of nearly two-thirds of the funds he raised for ANE into his personal bank accounts. As a result of Milligan’s alleged misconduct, ANE’s investors have suffered substantial losses.

The Complaint charges Milligan with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10(b) thereunder. The SEC is seeking a permanent injunction, an accounting, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties against Milligan.

For further information about this securities law blog post, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202 N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956, by email at [email protected] or visit  www.securitieslawyer101.com.   This securities law blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal and compliance advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Hamilton & Associates | Securities Lawyers
Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney
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