Alternative Fuel Company KiOR, Inc. Charged with Failure of Full Disclosure
Posted onOn September 26, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Texas-based Mard, Inc., formerly known as KiOR, Inc., and its former CEO and President Fred Cannon for failing to disclose important assumptions about the yield that KiOR had… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Daniel Thibeault for $15 Million Fraud
Posted onOn September 26, 2016, the Honorable Nathaniel M. Gorton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against Daniel Thibeault, of Framingham, Massachusetts. Thibeault is a defendant in an SEC enforcement… Read More
The Regulation A+ Offering Process – Going Public Attorneys
Posted onOn June 19, 2015, Regulation A+ became effective. The new rules which were promulgated under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), create two Tiers of exempt offerings, both of which allow securities to be offered and sold to the… Read More
Owners of North Star Finance LLC Charged with Fraud
Posted onOn September 21, 2016, North Star Finance LLC, G. Thomas Ellis, and Yasuo Oda entered consents to settle the SEC’s charges against them. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, North Star, Ellis, and Oda… Read More
Sheren Tsai and Colin Whelehan Charged with Insider Trading in Home Security Company
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced charges on September 22, 2016 against Sheren Tsai and Colin Whelehan for insider trading in advance of the acquisition of a home security company based on confidential information tipped to the trader by her… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Lee Vacaro in Fraud Case
Posted onOn September 16, 2016, the Honorable William J. Martini of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey entered a judgment against defendant Lee Vaccaro that imposed permanent injunctions and an officer and director bar…. Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Saleem Khan and Roshanlal Chaganlal for Insider Trading Scheme
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on September 21, 2016 that the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered a final judgment against defendants Saleem Khan and Roshanlal Chaganlal ordering the… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment in Wings Network Pyramid Scheme Case
Posted onA federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, recently entered final judgments by consent against six defendants in an ongoing enforcement action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in February 2015. The SEC charged two Portuguese companies operating… Read More
Steven Metro Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Insider Trading Scheme
Posted onOn September 14, 2016 Steven Metro, a former Simpson Thacher & Bartlett employee, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. Metro previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from his role in a long running insider trading… Read More
Stock-Trading Whiz Kid and Company Wealthpire Inc. Charged with Fraud
Posted onOn September 13, 2016 he Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that self-proclaimed “stock trading whiz kid” Manuel Jesus and his stock newsletter company in Los Angeles have agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to settle charges that they defrauded… Read More
SEC Charges Movie Exec Manu Kumaran
Posted onOn September 23, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Manu Kumaran in connection with Medient Studios and later Moon River Studios. According to the SEC, Kumaran defrauded investors in a purported project to construct the largest movie studio in… Read More
Court Enters Injunction Against Safety Technologies LLC and Its Owner
Posted onOn September 12, 2016, the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, entered a preliminary injunction and continued asset freeze by consent against Thomas Connerton and his company,… Read More
SEC Charges Tycoon Energy Inc and Its President with Running a $5.6 Million Fraud
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Tycoon Energy, Inc. and its president, Matthew Dee Nerbonne, with orchestrating an oil and gas fraud. The SEC’s complaint, filed on September 9, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the… Read More
Pro Basketball Player Defrauded by Investment Advisor Charles Banks
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on September 12, 2016 that it has charged Atlanta-based investment adviser Charles Augustus Banks, IV with defrauding a former professional basketball player by inducing him to invest in a sports team apparel… Read More
Mark Bloom and Firm North Hills Management LLC Charged with Fraud
Posted onOn September 6, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) obtained a final judgment against Mark Evan Bloom and his advisory firm, North Hills Management, LLC, for securities fraud in a civil enforcement action filed on February 25,… Read More
RPM International Charged with Disclosure and Accounting Failures
Posted onOn September 9, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Ohio-based chemical company RPM International Inc. and its General Counsel, Edward Moore, with failing to disclose a material loss contingency, or record an accrual for, a government… Read More
Four Fraudsters Charged in Arco Hills Silica Mining Company Scheme
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Gordon Jenkins, Theodore Sweeten, Francis Kreais and Craig Parkinson with orchestrating an offering fraud involving the sale of interests in a purported mining company, Arco Hills Silica Company. The SEC’s complaint, filed… Read More
SEC Obtains Emergency Order to Prevent Anthony Buzaneli from Leaving U.S.
Posted onOn August 26, 2016, Judge Susan Richard Nelson of the District of Minnesota issued an order requiring Anthony Buzaneli to surrender his passports and prohibiting him from leaving the United States until further order of the Court. The… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgment Against Jilbert Tahmazian in an Antifraud Action
Posted onOn August 26, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a final judgment against Jilbert Tahmazian, an attorney licensed in California, ordering him to pay $196,524 to settle an antifraud action filed by… Read More
Donald Watkins and his Companies Charged with Defrauding Investors
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Alabama attorney Donald Watkins and companies he controls with defrauding professional athletes and other investors out of millions of dollars, much of which he spent on his girlfriend and to cover… Read More
Court Enters Final Judgments Against Promotors of Fraud Company Wings Network
Posted onOn August 31, 2016, a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, entered final judgments by default against five defendants in an ongoing enforcement action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in February 2015. The SEC charged two… Read More
SEC Files Complaint Against Dennis Hamilton of Harman International Industries
Posted onOn February 5, 2016, the SEC filed a complaint charging Dennis Wayne Hamilton with insider trading in the company’s stock and making more than $130,000 in illegal profits by trading on nonpublic information he learned on the… Read More
SEC Charges Enviro Board Corporation and Two Executives with Fraud
Posted onOn August 26, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Enviro Board Corporation and two of its executives with using baseless financial projections and other misleading statements to defraud investors in a venture to manufacture environmentally-friendly building materials…. Read More
SEC Files Subpoena Against Edward Panos and His Wife for Penny Stock Fraud
Posted onOn August 25, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it filed a subpoena enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Edward Panos and his wife, Allison Panos, and various entities… Read More
SEC Charges Secured Income Reserve and Former Officers with Fraud
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed fraud charges against Secured Income Reserve, Inc. and three of its former officers alleging that Income Reserve, Ilona Mandelbaum of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., David Zimmerman of Boca Raton, Fla., and… Read More
Cedric Cañas Charged with Insider Trading and Ordered to Pay Over $1.1 Million
Posted onThe Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) obtained a default judgment against a former high-ranking executive at Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (“Santander”) for trading based on material, nonpublic information about a proposed acquisition for which the Spanish investment… Read More
John Ragsdale Charged with Aiding and Abetting Penny Stock Fraud
Posted onOn August 22, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it has charged John Ragsdale of South Carolina with aiding and abetting a penny stock fraud involving now-defunct U.S. public company Global Earth Energy, Inc. (Global Earth),… Read More
