SEC Files Charges Against Ralph Pirtle and Morando Berrettini for Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 25, 2015 that on September 24, 2015, a jury in federal district court in Chicago, Illinois, returned a verdict finding Ralph J. Pirtle and Morando Berrettini responsible for insider… Read More

SEC Charges GenAudio and CEO With Fraudulent Stock Offerings

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil injunctive action on September 25, 2015, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado relating to the fraudulent offer and sale of stock in GenAudio, Inc. The SEC… Read More

Anthony Knight Barred, Enjoined, and Fined for Unregistered Securities

On Thursday, September 3, 2015, United States District Court Judge Denis R. Hurley of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an order and judgment imposing relief against Defendant Anthony Knight, the… Read More

SEC v. Two Men Who Defrauded Investors

On September 21, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two men behind a scheme that defrauded investors in YaFarm Technologies Inc., a company that purported to provide stem cell therapy. The SEC’s complaint filed in federal… Read More

James Meagher Enjoined in Penny Stock Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on September 16, 2015 that Chief Judge Gregory M. Sleet of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware entered a final default judgment against Defendant James Meagher on… Read More

SEC Charges Ross Shapiro, Michael Gramis, and Tyler Peters With Fraud

On September 9, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced fraud charges against three traders accused of repeatedly lying to customers relying on them for honest and accurate pricing information about residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The SEC… Read More

SEC Charges Manny Shulman and David Hirschman

On September 3, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Manny J. Shulman and David Hirschman for their involvement in the fraudulent, unregistered sale of securities of Caribbean Pacific Marketing, Inc. (“Caribbean Pacific”), a now-defunct Florida corporation… Read More

SEC Obtains Summary Judgment Against Xytos In Securities Fraud

  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on August 24th, 2015, the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against… Read More

SEC Charges Microcap Stock Promoters

Last month, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a trio of alleged microcap stock promoters with defrauding investors by disseminating promotional investor relations e-mails and newsletters exhorting readers to immediately buy purportedly hot stocks so they could… Read More

Disclosure Obligations in Regulation A+ Offerings

The Anti-Fraud Provisions And  Regulation A+  On March 25, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules amending Regulation A. The new rules are often referred to as Regulation A+. These rules are designed to facilitate smaller companies’ access to… Read More

SEC Halts Ponzi Scheme Targeting Spanish and Portuguese Communities

On June 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced securities fraud charges and an asset freeze against the operators of a pyramid and Ponzi scheme falsely promising a gold mine of investment opportunity to investors in… Read More

SEC Charges Former Stockbroker with Conducting Ponzi Scheme

On July 1, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a former stockbroker in Pennsylvania with conducting a Ponzi scheme and stealing investor money to purchase a condominium in Florida, funding his own vacations and other personal expenses…. Read More

SEC Action: Silverleaf Financial and Dwight Shane Baldwin Charged

  On June 25, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil injunctive action against Silverleaf Financial, LLC and its sole principal Dwight Shane Baldwin in connection with an alleged fraudulent offering. The SEC action alleges… Read More

Neal Goyal Sentenced to Six Years For Ponzi Scheme

  On July 3, 2015, former investment fund manager, Neal Goyal was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a Ponzi scheme. In addition, Goyal was ordered to pay more than $9.2 million in restitution… Read More

SEC Halts Advance Fee Scam Targeting Home Building Industry

On May 15, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges and an emergency asset freeze in an alleged advance fee scam involving bogus prime bank instruments. The SEC complaint was filed on  May 11, 2015, in… Read More

Steven Palladino Pleads Guilty to Criminal Contempt for Violating SEC Orders

On May 14, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that, Steven Palladino pled guilty to 25 counts of criminal contempt charged by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts based on his repeated… Read More

Cashflowbot.com Operator Charged In Ponzi Scheme

On April 14, 2015, the operator of a website at Cashflowbot.com was charged in a ponzi scheme. According to the SEC charges, the perpetrator of the ponzi scheme raised money from more than 3,000 investors between January 2012 and… Read More

Big Apple Consulting, Mark Jablon and Mark Kaley Lose Appeal

On April 9, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Big Apple Consulting USA Inc., MJMM Investments, LLC, Marc Jablon and Mark… Read More

Jonathan Bryant Ordered to Pay Over $3 Million For 8000 Inc Scam

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that on April 7, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against Jonathan E. Bryant which ordered him to pay $3,168,184.70… Read More

SEC Charges Vadda Energy Corporation With Oil And Gas Fraud

On April 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Mieka Energy Corporation, and its founder and president Daro Ray Blankenship, with fraudulently offering oil and gas investments. Two of Mieka’s salesmen, Robert William Myers, Jr. and… Read More

SEC Charges Brian Polito With Oil and Gas Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Enforcement filed suit against GC Resources, LLC and Brian J. Polito for oil and gas fraud.  According to the allegations, Polito defrauded investors through the sale of interests in oil… Read More

OTC Markets Q & A – Going Public Lawyers

Posted By Brenda Hamilton, Securities Lawyer The OTC Markets offer several different tiers for companies to choose from when considering their services. These are the OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink marketplaces.  Companies that are trading on the OTC… Read More

Ross Mandell, Six Years Later – Part 2

Posted by Brenda Hamilton, Securities Lawyer A few weeks ago, we wrote about U.S. v Ross Mandell, a complicated case involving securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. The action was tried in… Read More

Six Years Later – U.S. v Ross Mandell

In July 2009, Ross Mandell, founder of Sky Capital Holdings, Ltd., a venture capital firm and brokerage, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and charged with violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  According to the… Read More

OTC Markets FAQ – OTC Markets Attorneys

The OTC Markets offers several different tiers for companies to chose from when considering their services. These are the OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink marketplaces.  Companies going public on the OTC Markets span a broad range of sectors,… Read More

SEC Settles Charges Against Joseph Saranello

On December 17, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)  announced settled charges against Joseph Saranello who participated in a pump-and-dump scheme involving the stock of Rudy Nutrition. The SEC previously charged thirteen other individuals in the… Read More

Doug Furth Indicted in Kickback Scheme

On December 12, 2014, the  Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging Douglas Furth, a stock promoter who resides in Solon, Ohio,… Read More

SEC Targets Another Promoter In a Reverse Merger Scheme

Securities Law Blog The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged another promoter in connection with a reverse merger issuer.  Matthew Carley, a penny stock promoter in Montana with orchestrating a fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme involving the stock of reverse merger… Read More

SEC Charges Traders Cafe Founders As Unregistered Brokers

The Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced securities fraud charges against Albert J. Scipione and Matthew P. Ionno who they allege pursued investors to set up accounts at their Traders Cafe for day trading.  Traders Cafe functioned as a… Read More

The SEC Pursues Shell Packer, Joseph Meuse

Securities Law Blog On November 25, 2014, the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced administrative proceedings against Joseph Meuse pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).  According to the SEC, from April… Read More