CEO of RVPlus Charged with Soliciting Fake Contracts with Foreign Governments
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a microcap company CEO for falsely claiming to have a lucrative relationship with the United Nations and billions of dollars in clean energy contracts with foreign governments.
The SEC alleges that RVPlus Inc. CEO Cary Lee Peterson made bogus claims in the company’s public filings and in statements to private investors, and that he and RVPlus participated in an unlawful distribution of RVPlus’s stock. The SEC temporarily suspended trading in RVPlus securities in July 2013, citing “material deficiencies” in the company’s financial statements.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey:
- Starting in May 2012, Peterson filed periodic reports with the SEC claiming that RVPlus had a lucrative relationship with the United Nations and clean energy agreements with governmental bodies in Nigeria, Haiti, and Liberia worth $2.8 billion. RVPlus had no relationship with the U.N. and the contracts were fictitious.
- Peterson repeatedly claimed in RVPlus’s SEC filings that RVPlus had issued invoices and was owed millions of dollars in accounts receivable on the bogus contracts.
- RVPlus and Peterson gained control of more than 90% of RVPlus’s free trading shares and gave them to individuals who unlawfully sold them into the market.
The SEC’s complaint charges Peterson and RVPlus with violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws, including Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 and the registration provisions of the securities laws, Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act. The SEC’s complaint further charges Peterson with aiding and abetting RVPlus’s violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b 5.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Peterson.
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 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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Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Telephone: (561) 416-8956
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