Hamilton & Associates Law Group, P.A.
Securities Lawyers | Corporate Finance
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On June 21, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged a New Jersey-based group of stock promoters with fraud involving the manipulation and artificial inflation of the share price of a microcap company, Pazoo, Inc. The scheme grossed over $1 million.
The SEC alleges that James Farinella, and his purported consulting firm Integrated Capital Partners, Inc. (ICP), controlled virtually the entire public float of stock in microcap issuer Pazoo, Inc. Farinella paid Equity Awareness Group (EAG) to promote Pazoo and to engage in matched trading to create the appearance of an active market for Pazoo stock and boost the stock price. The SEC further alleges that Anthony Amado, an owner of EAG, and Carlo Palomino, an EAG employee, carried out the scheme, enabling Farinella to dump Pazoo shares for over $1 million. Read More
On June 22, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Seyed Taher Kameli, a Chicago-based immigration attorney, with defrauding investors participating in the EB-5 immigrant investor program by improperly commingling and misusing a portion of the approximately $88.7 million raised.
The SEC alleges that Seyed Taher Kameli and his companies, Chicagoland Foreign Investment Group, LLC and American Enterprise Pioneers, Inc., falsely claimed to at least 226 foreign investors that each of their $500,000 investments would be used to help construct a specific senior living project in the Chicago area or Florida and create at least 10 permanent full-time jobs within that project. This would qualify each investor for a potential path to permanent U.S. residency through the EB-5 program. Read More
On June 20, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges involving a scheme to disguise the nature of Arista, a public company’s financing amid financial difficulties, and a corresponding manipulation of the price of the company’s stock perpetrated by an individual previously barred from serving as an officer or director.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, beginning in 2012, Arista began to experience difficulty raising long-term capital for its operations. On the recommendation of William Schmitz, Arista’s CEO, Michael T. Hughes, Arista counsel, and Peter Kolokouris, an Arista “consultant” who settled fraud charges with the Commission in the 1990s, Arista raised approximately $1 million through private sales of Arista stock owned by Kolokouris’ family. According to the SEC, in 2012, Schmitz and Hughes helped the Kolokouris family sell their stock to private investors, with the proceeds then used to provide desperately needed financing for the company, but in the guise of a fictitious loan from a purportedly independent third party, which was in fact controlled by Kolokouris. In order to effectuate the stock sales, the complaint alleges that Kolokouris manipulated Arista stock, which inflated the public market price and thereby misled the private investors to believe that they were acquiring the Kolokouris’ family stock at a discount. The complaint further alleges that Arista falsely and misleadingly stated in numerous public filings with the Commission – beginning with a September 10, 2012 Form 8-K – that the financing came from a line of credit with a third-party lender. Kolokouris, Schmitz and Hughes created internal Arista documentation designed to give the false appearance that Arista’s disclosures were consistent with internal corporate records. Lastly, the SEC alleges that Kolokouris and various Kolokouris family members violated Regulation M by purchasing shares while engaged in a distribution of Arista stock. Read More
On June 19, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) deemed it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) against Mark Northrop (“Respondent”).
In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Mark Northrop has submitted an Offer of Settlement (the “Offer”) which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commission, or to which the Commission is a party, and without admitting or denying the findings herein, except as to the Commission’s jurisdiction over him and the subject matter of these proceedings and the findings contained in paragraph III.2 below, which are admitted, Respondent consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (“Order”), as set forth below. Read More
On June 19, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) deemed it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) against Ann Hiskey (“Respondent”).
In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement (the “Offer”) which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commission, or to which the Commission is a party, Respondent admits the Commission’s jurisdiction over her and the subject matter of these proceedings, and the findings contained in paragraph III.2 below, and consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (“Order”), as set forth below. Read More
On June 16, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed fraud charges against CannaVEST Corp., a Las Vegas-based hemp oil company, and its CEO for inflating the company’s assets on its balance sheet.
The SEC complaint filed in federal court in Nevada alleges that CannaVEST Corp. (now known as CV Sciences, Inc.) and CEO Michael Mona Jr. materially overstated the company’s total assets in quarterly reports for the first and second quarters of 2013. According to the complaint, CannaVEST reported purchasing a company called PhytoSphere Systems LLC, including its existing rights under contracts with hemp production and processing facilities, for $35 million, even though Mona knew that the purported purchase price was substantially inflated. The complaint alleges that CannaVEST agreed to the purported purchase price only because CannaVEST could pay for the acquisition primarily with CannaVEST shares which Mona believed had little value at the time. Read More
On June 1, 2017, Antonio Katz, a defendant in ongoing SEC litigation, pled guilty to criminal charges filed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Antonio Katz was charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of securities fraud in connection with a pump-and-dump scheme that defrauded investors in Greenway Technology, a Las Vegas based company purporting to operate resorts catering to gay and lesbian travelers. The court accepted Antonio Katz’s plea and his sentencing currently is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2018.
The SEC previously charged Antonio Katz and Jehu Hand on December 10, 2015. According to the SEC’s complaint, the defendants and their co-schemers secretly planned and orchestrated the sale of Greenway stock to the public without proper securities registration statements and at prices artificially inflated by news releases, promotional materials, or blast e-mails containing false, exaggerated or misleading information, and by engaging in undisclosed coordinated trading of the stock. These efforts were designed to generate the appearance of demand for the stock and to increase its price even though Greenway had no operations or assets at the time. Between August 2012 and January 2013, after the stock price had been pumped, the participants in the scheme sold more than 12 million net shares of Greenway stock, causing losses to the investing public of more than $850,000. Read More
On April 5, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it has adopted JOBS Act amendments to increase the amount of money companies can raise through crowdfunding to adjust for inflation. It also approved amendments that adjust for inflation a threshold used to determine eligibility for benefits offered to “emerging growth companies” (EGCs) under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.
“Regular updates to the JOBS Act, as prescribed by Congress, ensure that the entrepreneurs and investors who benefit from crowdfunding will continue to do so,” said SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar. “Under these amendments, the JOBS Act can continue to create jobs and investment opportunities for the general public.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) announced the temporary suspension of trading in the securities of the following issuers, commencing at 9:30 a.m. EDT on June 9, 2017 and terminating at 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 22, 2017: Can-Cal Resources Ltd. (CCRE) and SkyStar Bio-Pharmaceutical Co. (SKBI). Read More
On June 6, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged David Fuselier, a chief executive officer, with perpetrating a fraudulent scheme to create the false appearance of improvement in the financial statements of two publicly traded companies by removing significant liabilities.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in New York, N.Y. on June 6, 2017, alleges that beginning in 2012, David Fuselier, then-chairman, chief executive officer, and principal financial and accounting officer of Integrated Freight Corporation and New Leaf Brands, Inc., arranged for both companies purportedly to sell non-performing subsidiaries each with liabilities greater than assets. According to the complaint, David Fuselier convinced a long-time friend and business associate, Roy W. Erwin, to be in charge of the purchaser, a new company formed and controlled by David Fuselier that had no assets. David Fuselier hid the true nature of the transactions from the companies’ auditors and, from July 2012 to April 2015, reviewed, approved, and signed SEC filings containing false and misleading information about the related-party nature of the sales and the issuers’ financial condition. As a result, Integrated Freight and New Leaf filed with the SEC materially false and misleading reports. Read More
On May 30, 2017, the Honorable Eric N. Vitaliano of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final consent judgment against defendants Marc Broidy and Broidy Wealth Advisors, LLC (“BWA”), enjoining them from violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities law and ordering them, jointly and severally, to pay $1,719,464 in disgorgement representing profits gained as a result of the conduct alleged in the complaint. The disgorgement was partially satisfied by Broidy’s payment of $25,000 directly to a former client, and the balance deemed satisfied by the entry of an order of restitution in the parallel criminal matter, United States v. Marc Broidy, 17-cr-64 (ENV). Additionally, on June 1, 2017, the SEC issued an administrative order barring Marc Marc Broidy from the securities industry. Marc Broidy consented to the issuance of a final judgment and administrative order.
The SEC charged Broidy and BWA with fraudulently overbilling clients and stealing assets from their trusts to pay such personal expenses as his home mortgage, overseas trips, and leases on two Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The SEC alleged that Marc Broidy billed clients approximately $643,000 in excess fees and covered it up by altering the amount of management fees recorded on forms issued by brokerage firms before sending the forms to his clients. The SEC further alleged that Broidy fraudulently obtained additional funds to pay his personal expenses by misappropriating approximately $865,000 in assets from clients’ trusts for which he was trustee, and that Marc Broidy also defrauded advisory clients about some investments they made in privately-held companies when he did not inform them he was affiliated with those companies. The SEC’s complaint, filed on October 27, 2016 charged Broidy and BWA with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 as well as Sections 206(1) and (2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Read More
On June 2, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut entered a final default judgment against two Connecticut-based companies, GAW Miners, LLC and ZenMiner, LLC, in a case alleging that these companies and their principal conducted a Ponzi scheme that used the lure of quick riches from virtual currency to defraud investors. The judgment followed the court’s May 29, 2017 order finding that the SEC established liability as to both defendants and adequately supported its requests for injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties.
The SEC’s complaint, filed on December 1, 2015, alleged that GAW Miners and ZenMiner, along with their principal, Homero Joshua Garza, purported to offer shares to investors in their digital bitcoin mining operation. Mining for bitcoin or other virtual currencies means applying computer power to try to solve complex equations that verify a group of transactions in that virtual currency. The first computer or collection of computers to solve an equation is awarded new units of that virtual currency. According to the SEC’s complaint, GAW Miners and ZenMiner did not own enough computing power for the mining they promised to conduct, so most investors paid for a share of computing power that never existed. Returns allegedly paid to some investors came from proceeds generated from sales to other investors. Read More
On March 10, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged two former iPayment executives, a credit card processing company, with masterminding a fraudulent scheme to steal millions of dollars through phony expense reimbursements, inflated invoices, and other improper accounting tactics.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that iPayment’s then-senior vice president of sales and marketing Nasir Shakouri and then-executive vice president and chief operating officer Robert Torino routinely reimbursed themselves for payments that were never actually made to third-party vendors using their personal credit cards. They also allegedly conspired with vendors to inflate invoices and receive kickbacks from the overpayments, and claimed improper commissions and bonuses related to other corporate funds they improperly diverted in various ways.
On March 14, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Nima Hedayati, an auditor based in the Silicon Valley, has agreed to settle charges that he traded on inside information about a client on the verge of a merger.
The SEC’s order finds that through his work at an independent audit firm, Nima Hedayati learned that Fremont, California-based Lam Research Corporation was making preparations to acquire Milpitas, California-based KLA-Tencor Corporation. The two companies manufacture equipment used in the creation of semiconductors.
On June 5, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Alpine Securities Corporation, a Salt Lake City-based brokerage firm, with securities law violations related to its alleged practice of clearing transactions for microcap stocks that were used in manipulative schemes to harm investors.
To help detect potential securities law and money laundering violations, broker-dealers are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that describe suspicious transactions that take place through their firms. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Alpine Securities Corporation routinely and systematically failed to file SARs for stock transactions that it flagged as suspicious. When it did file SARs, Alpine Securities allegedly frequently omitted the very information that formed the bases for Alpine knowing, suspecting, or having reason to suspect that a transaction was suspicious. As noted in the complaint, guidance for preparing SARs from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) clearly states that “[e]xplaining why the transaction is suspicious is critical.”
On March 30, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze obtained against Larry Holley, a Michigan-based pastor, accused of exploiting church members, retirees, and laid-off auto workers who were misled to believe they were investing in a successful real estate business.
The SEC alleges that Larry Holley, the pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Mich., cloaked his solicitations in faith-based rhetoric, replete with references to scripture and biblical figures. Holley allegedly told prospective investors that as a person who “prayed for your children,” he was more trustworthy than a “banker” with their money. According to the SEC’s complaint, Larry Holley held financial presentations masked as “Blessed Life Conferences” at churches nationwide during which he asked congregants to fill out cards detailing their financial holdings, and he promised to pray over the cards and invited attendees to have one-on-one consultations with his team. He allegedly called his investors “millionaires in the making.”
On March 27, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges against LottoNet Operating Corp., a Florida-based company, its CEO, and its top sales agent accused of conducting a boiler room scheme that solicits investments in a business purportedly facilitating online and cell phone sales of lottery tickets in various states.
The SEC has obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of LottoNet Operating Corp., David Gray, and Joseph A. Vitale. The SEC’s complaint alleges that they misrepresented to investors that their money would be used to develop and market LottoNet and that sales agents did not receive commissions. At least 35 percent of investor proceeds were allegedly paid to boiler room sales agents in the form of commissions, and LottoNet allegedly siphoned investor funds for personal spending on clothing, wedding-related expenses, and strip clubs.
On April 5, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Lawson Financial Corporation, an Arizona-based brokerage firm, its CEO, and its former underwriter’s counsel have agreed to settle charges related to municipal bond offerings they were underwriting that turned out to be fraudulent.
The SEC’s order finds that Lawson Financial Corporation failed in its role as a gatekeeper to conduct reasonable due diligence when underwriting bond offerings to purchase and renovate nursing homes and senior living facilities. The offerings were managed by Atlanta-based businessman Christopher Brogdon, who was later charged by the SEC with fraud and faces a court order to repay $85 million to investors. Lawson Financial failed to ensure Brogdon and his related borrowers were in compliance with their continuing disclosure undertakings as required by Rule 15c2-12, which generally prohibits underwriters from purchasing or selling municipal securities unless the issuer or obligated person has committed to providing continuing disclosure information, such as annual financial materials and operating data.
On June 1, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that it has barred former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney registered representative John Bocchino for concealing approximately $190 million in Venezuelan bond trades from the firm, which had restricted such trading due to the regulatory, anti-money laundering and reputational risks it posed. Instead, John Bocchino continued to trade in Venezuelan bonds on behalf of his customers, but hid the trades from the firm by using several nominee accounts in the names of well-known U.S. financial institutions, and directing the trades through those accounts. Unbeknownst to these financial institutions, John Bocchino executed approximately 300 Venezuelan bond trades in the accounts opened in their names. To further conceal his customers’ trading, John Bocchino created hundreds of firm documents, including new account forms and trade tickets, that contained false information.
Susan Schroeder, FINRA Acting Head of Enforcement, said, “Mr. Bocchino concealed his customers’ identities in order to engage in trading his firm prohibited. FINRA will always pursue misconduct such as Mr. Bocchino’s, who evaded the appropriate scrutiny of his firm’s AML and compliance departments by falsely creating the appearance of compliance.” Read More
On March 9, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Medbox, a California-based company, and its founder with falsely touting “record” revenue numbers to investors and claiming to be a leader in the marijuana industry while some of its earnings came from sham transactions with a secret affiliate.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Medbox provided marijuana consulting services and claimed to sell vending machines known as “Medbox” devices capable of dispensing marijuana on the basis of biometric identification. The SEC alleges that Vincent Mehdizadeh created a shell company called New-Age Investment Consulting to carry out illegal stock sales and used the proceeds from those sales to boost Medbox’s revenue. Medbox allegedly issued press releases headlining the phony revenues as record earnings to legitimize itself as a viable commercial operation when in fact nearly 90 percent of the company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2014 stemmed from sham transactions with New-Age. Mehdizadeh allegedly acknowledged in a text message that “the only thing we are really good at is public company publicity and stock awareness. We get an A+ for creating revenue off sheer will but that won’t continue.”
On May 4, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Verto Capital Management, a New Jersey-based firm, and its CEO have agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle charges that they used new investor money to repay earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion and tapped investor funds for the CEO’s personal use.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Verto Capital Management and William Schantz III raised approximately $12.5 million selling promissory notes to purportedly fund Verto Capital’s purchase and sale of life settlements, which are life insurance policies sold in the secondary market. The SEC alleges that they misrepresented to investors that Verto Capital was a profitable company and investor funds would be used for general working capital purposes. Verto Capital and other Schantz businesses had been unprofitable for several years, according to the SEC’s complaint, and Schantz resorted to taking disproportionately large distributions of investor funds for himself and using new investor money to repay earlier investors.
On March 3, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Mexico-based homebuilding company Desarrolladora Homex S.A.B. de C.V. has agreed to settle charges that it reported fake sales of more than 100,000 homes to boost revenues in its financial statements during a three-year period.
On May 1, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that MagnaChip, a South Korea-based semiconductor manufacturer, and its former CFO have agreed to settle charges related to an accounting scheme to artificially boost revenue and manipulate the financial results reported to investors.
The SEC’s order finds that MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. overstated revenues for nearly two years in response to immense pressure placed on employees each quarter to meet revenue and gross margin targets that had been communicated to the public. Then-CFO Margaret Sakai directed or approved several fraudulent accounting practices to make it falsely appear the company had met those targets. For example, MagnaChip recognized revenue on sales of incomplete or unshipped products, and the company delayed booking obsolete or aged inventory to manipulate its reported gross margin. MagnaChip also engaged in roundtrip transactions to manipulate accounts receivable balances, and concealed from auditors that there were side agreements with distributors to induce them to accept products early.
On May 24, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges in an alleged insider trading scheme involving tips of nonpublic information about government plans to cut Medicare reimbursement rates by former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services employees, which affected the stock prices of certain publicly traded medical providers or suppliers.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that David Blaszczak, a former government employee turned political intelligence consultant, obtained key confidential details about upcoming decisions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from his close friend and former colleague at the agency, Christopher Worrall. According to the SEC’s complaint, Worrall serves as a health insurance specialist in the Center for Medicare and tipped Blaszczak about at least three pending Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decisions that affected the amount of money that companies receive from Medicare to provide services or products related to cancer treatments or kidney dialysis.
On May 19, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed fraud charges against Robert Murray, a Virginia-based mechanical engineer accused of scheming to manipulate the price of Fitbit stock by making a phony regulatory filing.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Robert Murray purchased Fitbit call options just minutes before a fake tender offer that he orchestrated was filed on the SEC’s EDGAR system purporting that a company named ABM Capital LTD sought to acquire Fitbit’s outstanding shares at a substantial premium. Fitbit’s stock price temporarily spiked when the tender offer became publicly available on Nov. 10, 2016, and Murray sold all of his options for a profit of approximately $3,100.
On May 9, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged David Humphrey, a former employee, with securities fraud in connection with his trading of options and other securities.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that David Humphrey, who worked at the SEC from 1998 to 2014, concealed his personal trading from the SEC’s ethics office and later misrepresented his trading activities to the SEC’s Office of Inspector General when questioned during an investigation.
On May 10, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an enforcement action requiring Barclays Capital to refund advisory fees or mutual fund sales charges to clients who were overcharged.
In a settlement of more than $97 million, Barclays agreed to settle three sets of violations that resulted in clients being overbilled by nearly $50 million. The SEC’s order finds that two Barclays advisory programs charged fees to more than 2,000 clients for due diligence and monitoring of certain third-party investment managers and investment strategies when in fact these services weren’t being performed as represented. Barclays also collected excess mutual fund sales charges or fees from 63 brokerage clients by recommending more expensive share classes when less expensive share classes were available. Another 22,138 accounts paid excess fees to Barclays due to miscalculations and billing errors by the firm.
On May 11, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Miles Nadal, the former CEO of a marketing company, has agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle charges that his perks were not properly disclosed to shareholders. Public companies must properly disclose perks, benefits, and other forms of compensation paid to CEOs and certain other highly compensated executive officers.
According to the SEC’s order, shareholders were informed in annual filings that Miles Nadal received an annual perquisite allowance of $500,000 in addition to other benefits as the chairman and CEO of MDC Partners. But the SEC’s investigation found that without disclosing information to investors as required, MDC Partners paid for Miles Nadal’s personal use of private airplanes as well as charitable donations in his name, yacht and sports car expenses, cosmetic surgery, and a wide range of other perks. All total, Miles Nadal improperly obtained an additional $11.285 million in perks beyond his disclosed benefits and $500,000 annual allowances. He has since resigned and returned $11.285 million to the company.
On May 15, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged a pair of former head traders who ran the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) desk at Nomura Securities International Inc. with deliberately lying to customers in order to inflate the profits of the CMBS desk and line their own pockets as a result.
The SEC alleges that James Im and Kee Chan each misrepresented price information while acting as intermediaries on trades with Nomura’s customers who sought to buy and sell CMBS on the secondary market. In certain instances, Im and Chan allegedly pretended they were still negotiating bond purchases with a third-party seller at higher prices when Nomura had already acquired the bonds at a lower price.
On May 11, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Walter Little, a former partner at an international law firm, and his neighbor with making more than $1 million in illicit profits by insider trading around corporate announcements.
The SEC alleges that Walter Little accessed confidential documents on his law firm’s internal computer network related to at least 11 impending announcements involving law firm clients, none of which he personally advised or billed for services. Walter Little then allegedly traded in advance of each announcement and often tipped his neighbor Andrew Berke with material nonpublic information so he could similarly trade in company stocks before the announcements were made publicly. According to the SEC’s complaint, the insider trading occurred from February 2015 to February 2016.
