SEC Obtains Final Judgement Against Steven Newman
On November 9, 2018, the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against defendant Steven Newman. The final judgment imposes on Newman a permanent injunction against future violations of certain antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and bars Newman from serving as an officer and director of a public company.
The SEC’s complaint, filed on October 19, 2007 and amended on March 23, 2015, alleged, among other things, that Steven Newman and other officers and directors of Xybernaut Corp., signed registration statements for private investment in public equity transactions (PIPE transactions) that were all false and misleading because those registration statements named nominee entities and nominee directors as the control persons and concealed the identify of an investor group that controlled large blocks of Xybernaut’s shares.
The final judgment permanently enjoins Newman from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, as well as the books and records provisions of Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1, 13a-13, and 13a-14 thereunder. The final judgment also bars Steven Newman from serving as an officer or director of a public company. In addition, the final judgment provides for disgorgement of $429,100, representing Steven Newman’s ill-gotten gains, and that the disgorgement shall be deemed satisfied by the criminal restitution paid by Steven Newman. Steven Newman consented to the entry of the final judgment.
The Commission’s action against the other remaining defendants continues.
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