Final Judgement Obtained Against Andrew Farmer

On July 24, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it has obtained a final judgment against Andrew Farmer, whom the SEC charged with orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme involving a company that purportedly developed revolutionary technology to enable environmentally friendly oil and gas production.

The final judgment, entered on July 18, 2017 by the Honorable Keith P. Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, orders Andrew Farmer to pay approximately $7.2 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of approximately $2 million. The final judgment also permanently enjoins Andrew Farmer from violating Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder and imposes permanent penny stock and officer-and-director bars.The court’s entry of judgment, which follows an October 2015 grant of summary judgment to the SEC on all its claims against Farmer, resolves the SEC’s litigation in its entirety.

The court previously entered final judgment against two individuals charged with serving as figurehead CEOs installed by Farmer – Charles Grob, Jr. and Baldemar Rios – and against Carolyn Austin, who was charged with helping Andrew Farmer profit from his scheme by dumping shares of Chimera Energy Corp., the company at the center of the alleged pump-and-dump scheme, in the midst of Farmer’s promotional efforts. The SEC suspended trading in Chimera stock in 2012 and obtained a default judgment against Chimera on October 7, 2015. On October 26, 2015, the court entered a final judgment against Austin, which permanently enjoined her from violating Section 5 of the Securities act, imposed a permanent penny stock bar, and ordered her to pay approximately $59,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $80,000. On August 23 and 26, 2016, the court entered final judgments against Rios and Grob, respectively. The judgments imposed a one-year officer-and-director bar on Rios and ordered Grob to pay approximately $79,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $15,000.

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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Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Telephone: (561) 416-8956
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www.SecuritiesLawyer101.com