| To: afrayem onigwecher who started this subject | 2/1/2003 5:10:06 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | Bruce Blechman and Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, LLC Scottsdale resident Bruce J. Blechman and his venture capital firm, Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, L.L.C., agreed to comply with a Cease and Desist Order in connection with his company's solicitation of over $2.5 million in investor funds from approximately 100 investors across the United States. Blechman's company, Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, originally sought to raise up to $5 million from investors to use as venture capital to finance a variety of small, start-up companies. Instead, the bulk of the investment funds were expended on solicitation costs, sales commissions and other related expenses. Blechman had initially represented that no more than 10 percent of the investor funds were to be used for such expenditures. Blechman and the Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund agreed to pay $500,000 in restitution and an administrative penalty in the amount of $25,000.
COMMISSION NEWS ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION, 1200 W. WASHINGTON, PHOENIX, AZ 85007 TO: EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS DATE: May 28, 2002 FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Heather Murphy (602) 542-0844 COMMISSION ORDERS OVER $1 MILLION IN PENALTIES & RESTITUTION FOR SECURITIES VIOLATIONS PHOENIX The Arizona Corporation Commission has issued orders to cease and desist from actions in violation of state securities laws against 21STCentury Satellite Communication, Glenn Liberatore and Howard Baldwin; Robert Witt; Bruce J.Blechman and Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, LLC.; David Hitzig; and Robert L. Fanzo doing business as Intermarc Marketing and CashFlows. 21STCentury Satellite Communication, Glenn Liberatore and Howard Baldwin The Commission took action against 21stCentury Satellite Communications, Inc., a Florida based company, and two of its sales agents, Glenn Liberatore of Utah, and Howard Baldwin of Scottsdale. The Commission found that 21stCentury, with the assistance of Liberatore and Baldwin, an Arizona-licensed insurance agent, fraudulently sold $262,000 of promissory notes to 14 Arizona residents. None of the Arizona investors have received their investment back. After selling over $23,000,000 of promissory notes nationwide, 21stCentury defaulted on the notes. Liberatore and Baldwin also illegally sold viatical settlement contracts-interests in the life insurance benefits of the terminally ill or elderly. 21stCentury was ordered to repay all investors $262,000 plus a $5,000 penalty. Baldwin was ordered to pay restitution of $47,164.13 and Liberatore was ordered to pay $28,460.84. Liberatore and Baldwin were each assessed an additional $5,000 penalty. Both orders allow for the $5,000 penalty to be reduced to $2,000 if restitution is paid in full. Following the Arizona Corporation Commission's action, the United States Securities and
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Exchange Commission also brought an action against 21stCentury and its officers for fraud in the sale of securities. Unregistered insurance agents selling promissory notes, viatical investments and other securities have been a concern in Arizona for several years. Such activity was recently included in a list of the "Dirty Dozen" financial scams in Arizona by the Securities Division. Robert Witt The Arizona Corporation Commission ordered Robert Witt of Apache Junction, to cease and desist from fraudulent sales of unregistered viatical settlement contracts. Witt participated in sales of viaticals to investors from 1997 until 2001, as an employee of Scottsdale-based Carrington Estate Planning Services, owned by Richard Carrington. The Commission found that Witt failed to tell investors about the risks in investing in viaticals and about the poor track record of Carrington. Witt was ordered to pay $40,000 to investors and to pay a $5,000 fine. His penalty will be reduced to $2,000 once Witt makes the full $40,000 payment. Bruce Blechman and Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, LLC Scottsdale resident Bruce J. Blechman and his venture capital firm, Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, L.L.C., agreed to comply with a Cease and Desist Order in connection with his company's solicitation of over $2.5 million in investor funds from approximately 100 investors across the United States. Blechman's company, Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund, originally sought to raise up to $5 million from investors to use as venture capital to finance a variety of small, start-up companies. Instead, the bulk of the investment funds were expended on solicitation costs, sales commissions and other related expenses. Blechman had initially represented that no more than 10 percent of the investor funds were to be used for such expenditures. Blechman and the Pre-IPO Venture Capital Fund agreed to pay $500,000 in restitution and an administrative penalty in the amount of $25,000. David Hitzig The Commission found that David Hitzig, 60, of Mesa, defrauded two Arizona investors when he sold them unregistered securities. Hitzig was not registered as a securities salesman. Hitzig helped persuade two investors to enter into investment contracts under which Early Detection Center, Inc. was to
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form a corporation to open a cancer detection center in the valley. After taking the investment money, Hitzig failed to open a clinic with either of the investors. An Early Detection Center was open in Sun City for a short period of time, but neither investor received any financial benefit from the center. Hitzig was ordered to pay restitution of $75,000 plus interest and $5,000 in administrative penalties. Ronald L. Fanzo, Intermarc Marketing and CashFlows The Commission ordered Ronald Fanzo, 50, of Scottsdale, doing business as Intermarc Marketing, to cease and desist from violating the Securities Act through operations conducted via two Internet websites. The Intermarc website offered to investors high-risk computer "turnkey" systems purportedly designed to set up e-commerce businesses upon purchase. The other site, called CashFlows, offered investments secured by promissory notes signed by the computer system buyers. Fanzo promised a 30 percent rate of return on the investment over a six-month period. He told investors their money would be used to purchase the computer systems offered by Intermarc. He also falsely represented he had more than $179,000 in accounts receivable and claimed that no purchaser had ever defaulted on a system. In fact, Fanzo had not sold any computer systems and had no promissory notes to secure the investments. Fanzo used the investment capital largely for his own living expenses.The Corporation Commission ordered Fanzo to pay $12,750 in restitution and $15,000 in penalties. To check the registration of a securities offering or the disciplinary history of your financial professional, contact the Arizona Securities Division at 602-542-4242, toll free at 1-877-811-3878. The Arizona Corporation Commission's Securities Division website (www.ccsd.cc.state.az.us) also offers helpful information for investors. ### |
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| To: afrayem onigwecher who started this subject | 2/1/2003 5:22:25 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | Guerrilla Financing Pro Shares His Tactics By: Bruce J. Blechman
fprc.com.
CREATIVE FINANCING
Guerrilla Financing Pro Shares His Tactics
By: Bruce J. Blechman
ROYAL TREATMENT
How would you like to get money for your business without having a legal obligation to pay it back or give up any equity in your company? How would you like to add this money to your company's balance sheet as a direct increase in your net worth without increasing your liabilities? Even better, how would you like the people who gave you the money to wait around until you can afford to pay them back? Sound too good to be true? Well, it is true - it's called "royalty financing."
Most people are aware of the traditional types of financing-debt (loans) and equity (investments). If you borrow the money in the form of a loan, you are legally obligated to pay it back. You must make monthly payments of the principal and interest regardless of your business' situation. In other words, whether' business is good or bad you still must comply with the obligations of your loan. When you get the loan, the cash is added to the asset side of your balance and the loan becomes an increase in your liabilities. On the other hand, if you receive an investment, it means you have given up a percentage of your company for money. Selling a piece of your business wouldn't be so bad if you could get a proper evaluation of your company. But when it comes to smaller, privately held companies, the valuation given by investors is often low. Therefore, when a small business uses equity financing, it ends up giving away a large percentage of the ownership.
Royalty financing is completely different. It is off-balance-sheet financing because it appears on your financial statements only as a footnote -showing a contingent liability (a liability that may or may not happen). In this case, contingent upon the company making money. It's perfectly tailored to the needs of a young business and is an excellent way for entrepreneurial companies to attract investors.
HOW IT WORKS
Royalty financing involves giving an investor a percentage of sales or gross profits instead of monthly debt payments or equity ownership in the business. Here's how it works. Let's say you want to introduce a new product line, but lack the capital necessary for production and marketing. Instead of offering to pay back a loan to your investors or giving away a percentage of your business in return for capital, you offer your investors a percentage of the gross profits, or a royalty, from this new product line. The investors are not investing in your whole company, or even in your old product line, making it ideal for the introduction of the new line. The royalty income the investors receive is tied directly to the success of this product, and they will expect to get all their money back, plus a good return, from the sales of the new line.
Compare this with the standard method of obtaining a bank loan for a new product line. Assume that, as in all new product introductions, sales will go up and down before straightening out to a growth curve. If you take out a bank loan, monthly payments of principal and interest must be paid no matter what happens to the economy, your industry, your company, or sales of your new product line. If sales start dropping for any reason, the bank might decide to put you out of business if the loan is not paid on time.
Under royalty financing, however, your payments are directly related to what happens to the economy, your industry, your company, and, of course, the sales of your new product line. Because the royalty is usually a fixed percentage of sales, the royalty payments decrease - if sales decrease. If sales go up, royalty payments increase. In other words, royalty financing gives you much more flexibility than a typical bank loan. Also, with royalty financing, payments usually don't start until sales of the new product line are made. So, if you are delayed in introducing your new line you still have enough capital to get you through the tough times. What's more, under a royalty financing agreement, the revenue percentage, the term, and the exit clause are all negotiable. Try negotiating those terms with a bank!
Royalty financing is a win-win deal, offering just as many benefits to the financing source or investor as to the entrepreneur seeking capital. Here are the main advantages:
No specific payment schedule to meet every month, as with a loan.
Does not show up as debt on your balance sheet.
Does not dilute company ownership.
The investment goes directly into increasing the net worth of the company.
All payments to investors are tax-deductible.
Payments are not fixed, but tied to the revenue stream of the investment.
Investments can be tied directly to particular situations such as new product line introductions or other types of business expansion.
Does not require collateral or liens on any assets.
Improves your company's credit. Since the financing is off the balance sheet, you can borrow more money from conventional lenders.
Here are some advantages royalty financing offers the investor:
Investors get their money directly from the revenue stream before any other creditors are paid, and even before the company's owners are paid.
Investors do not have to pay double taxation on getting their money back in the form of dividends.
The return on investment can be far greater than a normal stock purchase in the same company.
Investors do not have to wait for the company to issue dividends, go public, sell out to another company, or experience tremendous sales growth before they get a return on their investment.
Royalty financing eliminates the problem of minority stockholders being dependent on the mere whim of the majority stockholders to get a return on their investment.
The investments is fixed to a percentage of sales and cannot be changed without mutual consent.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Royalty financing's only major disadvantage is its cost. Investors usually want a higher return than you would pay a bank. That means royalty financing is not for every company. A well-established company in mature industry would probably do better with a bank loan. Rut, in today's economy, how many companies qualify as being well-established and mature?
If you think royalty financing is for you, here are some points to consider when setting up such a program. First, think through all aspects of the royalty program before you -sign on the dotted line. Make sure you can stop or reduce the payments once the investors have received an excellent return. Although royalty payments could theoretically go on forever, you should set an agreed-upon cap or point of diminishing return. - Insist on an exit clause that allows your company to extricate itself from paying royalties at some point. If your product line turns out to be a best-seller, you don't want the investors to take all the profits-merely a healthy return on their investment.
One way to do this is to arrange to buy out the investors' royalty payments at a predetermined price. Some companies even offer equity instead of cash to buy out royalty investors. For example, instead of paying the investors cash, you might affect your profitability. You don't want to be tied to a royalty financing deal that forces you to make payments based on outdated cost figures.
Third, don't attempt royalty financing unless you can raise your prices enough to give you some profit after the royalties are paid. - You don't want the royalty payments to eat up all your profits. As a rule of thumb, you should be able to raise the prices you charge for your products or services by at least as much as the royalty fee.
Royalty financing is just one technique in any aggressive investment banker's bag of tricks. If you are looking for a small amount of money-typically less than $100,00 you can probably negotiate a royalty financing arrangement with an investor on your own. However, if you go this route, have an attorney go over the agreement before you sign on the dotted line. If you are looking for more than $100,000 you should look for an investor through your investment banker, financing consultant or securities lawyer, or write to me in care of Entrepreneur for the names of firms that specialize in royalty financing.
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| To: StockDung who wrote (442) | 2/1/2003 11:33:12 PM | | From: rrufff | | | | What is it with you? You have nothing better to do but to post over and over dated stuff that nobody reads? Are you that forked up to think that posting old stuff over and over again enhances your reputation?
It really is a shame. You've could do some good stuff and really go after some crooks. Instead you let your ego get in the way.
Result - when you are wrong, you will waste bandwidth posting over and over. You hope that, like a broken clock, you may eventually be right.
Un Truthseeker - doing the SooLoo dance |
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| To: jjs64 who wrote (418) | 3/29/2003 2:24:31 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | "like "SAKS Fifth Avenue" only its "stocksfifthavenue" lol
Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc. Issues Statement Regarding Non-Association with Jimmy Buffett and the 'Margaritaville Hotel,' 'Parrothead Bar & Grill' and 'Margaritaville Casino'
Press Release: Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc.
July 21, 1999
Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc. has issued a statement that the "Margaritaville Hotel," and the "Parrothead Bar & Grill," located in Sosua, Santo Domingo, on the Island of Hispanola, and the web sites "www.margaritahotel.com" and "www.margaritavillecasino.com" on the Internet, have no affiliation whatsoever, or association whatsoever, with Jimmy Buffett, the recording artist.
Andros Hotels & Casinos is a development stage, small, public company planning to be the owner and operator of intimate and deluxe hotels and popular casinos. The Company's common stock is traded in the "Pink Sheets" operated by the National Quotation Bureau (http://www.nqb.com or telephone 212-868-7100, ext. 483). To receive a complete investor information package, please call Fifth Avenue Communications at 800-992-6616 or visit their web site at stocksfifthavenue.com (like "SAKS Fifth Avenue" only its "stocksfifthavenue") or e-mail a request for information to: fifth@juno.com
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the ability of Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc., to accomplish its stated plan of business. Although Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate and, therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc. or any other person that the objectives and plans of Andros Hotels & Casinos, Inc. will be achieved. |
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| To: afrayem onigwecher who started this subject | 4/10/2003 8:34:04 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | Notices of Proposed Sale Reported on Form 144 of CANADIAN ADVANTAGE LP Description
Click on the column header links to resort ascending () or descending ().
Company
Select a company below for more information. Relation File Date Shares Broker
PREFERENCE TECHNOLOGIES INC N 4/9/2001 40,000
THOMSON KERNAGHAN CO LTD
Page 1 of 1
- Amended Filing
Relation Codes
N - None
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| To: afrayem onigwecher who started this subject | 4/10/2003 8:41:04 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | Mr. Chell is tied to Mr. Valentine through his role as a shareholder and chairman of one of Mr. Valentine’s funds, the VC Advantage Fund Limited Partnership, according to the Ontario Securities Commission.
Shares of Chell Group were used as part of Mr. Valentine’s manipulation of another fund, the Canadian Advantage Limited Partnership, according to regulators.
New broker head’s business associates under cloud
Tech taint shades Pru "star"
Investment News
by Bruce Kelly
December 11, 2002
At a time when Wall Street is desperate to regain investor trust, the new head of brokers at Prudential Securities Inc. in New York is enmeshed in a growing Canadian financial scandal.
Prudential Financial Inc. of Newark, N.J., last week tapped Michael Rice, a 35-year-old “rising star” in the company, to lead its struggling brokerage operations. But according to investigators and regulators in Canada, Mr. Rice is a director and major stockholder of a technology holding company in Toronto whose founder, along with a close business associate, has been implicated in a string of securities violations. Mr. Rice, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, joined Prudential Securities in 1997 from Salomon Smith Barney Inc. in New York. He didn’t return repeated calls seeking comment.
His role during the past year as a board member and leading shareholder in the Chell Group Corp. raises questions about his ability to lead the 4,360 brokers at Prudential at a time when Wall Street is widely mistrusted by investors. Canadian regulators say the founder of Chell Group is a “known business associate” of a Toronto stockbroker who has been indicted in the United States for securities fraud.
The broker, Mark Valentine, who is now living near Miami, has been charged with manipulating stock prices to launder money and engage in “death spiral” stock manipulations of startup technology firms. The holding company in which Mr. Rice is involved is structured to make acquisitions and conceivably also could provide the means to conduct death-spiral deals.
Mr. Rice has been serving as a director at Chell Group since last December. The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. in New York delisted the moribund company in June “based on the company’s failure to comply with net tangible assets and shareholder equity requirements.”
In filings with the NASD last year, Mr. Rice said he had expected to spend about an hour a week on his director duties. But his involvement with Chell has almost certainly grown since then.
Mr. Rice now has a leading stock position in the company — 1.7 million shares, or 7.6% of the common stock, according to a May proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
After Chell lost its Nasdaq listing in June, the company’s founder, Cameron Chell, turned over the proxy-voting rights he controls to directors on the five-member board, including Mr. Rice.
Mr. Chell’s career is checkered with securities violations. The Alberta Stock Exchange in 1998 stripped him of his license to sell securities. And this summer, the Ontario Securities Commission, in a statement of allegations, identified Mr. Chell as Mr. Valentine’s business associate.
Such a statement of allegations is the first step by regulators to prove a violation of the province’s securities laws. It’s akin to an SEC civil investigation.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Securities Commission alleges that Mr. Valentine engaged in a variety of improper trades to enrich himself at the expense of his brokerage clients over a two-year period beginning in 2000.
In a separate criminal case, Mr. Valentine, who is former chairman of Toronto broker-dealer Thomson Kernaghan & Co. Ltd., was a central figure in a massive Canadian stock fraud and money-laundering investigation earlier this year.
The case resulted in the indictment of 58 people, according to Canadian officials. As part of that investigation, federal prosecutors in the United States charged Mr. Valentine with three counts of securities fraud.
The case involved the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Mr. Valentine was arrested in Germany in August and extradited a month later. He is currently free on bail, residing in a condominium in Key Biscayne, Fla., according to published reports.
The U.S. charges, which are pending, stem from a deal he is accused of making with undercover FBI agents. Mr. Valentine allegedly offered to pay kickbacks in return for the agents’ agreement to manipulate the stock prices of three firms owned by Mr. Valentine.
DEATH SPIRALS
According to the Ontario Securities Commission, Mr. Valentine’s alleged fraudulent deals involve Chell stock as well that of Jawz Inc., a Toronto-based technology startup co-founded by Mr. Chell.
At least some of the stock manipulation involving Chell shares allegedly occurred in March, several months after Mr. Rice had joined the board, leading up to the Nasdaq delisting.
Canadian regulators say Mr. Valentine’s deals, including the financing of Jawz, involved death spirals and “toxic financing.”
Such deals involve complex swaps of private debt and equity. Venture capitalists often use such financial arrangements to fund technology startups, leading to an initial public offering of stock.
The deal becomes a death spiral after the IPO when the share price is manipulated downward. That allows the debt holder to trade debt for stock at a lower price to boost greatly the number of shares acquired. Then the stock price is allowed to float up again, often resulting in huge profits at the expense of other shareholders and the company.
Direct links, if any, between Mr. Rice and Mr. Valentine are unknown, but Mr. Rice’s position on Chell’s board suggests he has close ties to Mr. Chell, who still has a role with the company although he has resigned as president and CEO.
Mr. Chell is tied to Mr. Valentine through his role as a shareholder and chairman of one of Mr. Valentine’s funds, the VC Advantage Fund Limited Partnership, according to the Ontario Securities Commission.
Shares of Chell Group were used as part of Mr. Valentine’s manipulation of another fund, the Canadian Advantage Limited Partnership, according to regulators.
After Mr. Valentine’s funds acquired warrants for stock in Mr. Chell’s company, Jawz, Mr. Valentine’s brokerage issued a “buy” recommendation for it in November 2000, according to Canadian regulators.
At one time, Mr. Valentine owned 23.4% of Chell Group.
At the time of his appointment to the board of Chell last December, Mr. Rice praised the company.
“Chell Group Corp. has some very exciting initiatives,” he said in a statement. “Today’s markets present excellent acquisition opportunities, and I am pleased to be joining an already-dynamic board, helping Cameron Chell and his team realize their strategic-growth plans.”
But since then, the company’s problems have been compounded.
Last month, the Canadian government’s Competition Bureau filed criminal charges against Adrian Towning, the chairman of Chell’s board of directors, for his alleged involvement in an unrelated telemarketing scheme to bill businesses for office supplies they didn’t order.
Last Wednesday, Chell stock traded for 20 cents a share on the over-the-counter bulletin board. Chell disclosed Nov. 8 that the Nasdaq had denied its appeal to re-list on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.
At the end of last month, Chell filed for an extension for its quarterly report with the SEC.
On its website, Chell touts an April research report from Taglich Brothers Inc. of New York that reports a 15-month price target for the company of $3.43 a share.
It fails to state, however, that Taglich suspended its price target after the Nasdaq gave Chell the boot.
In April, Chell said it had closed the last round of $8 million in fund raising led by Joseph Gunnar & Co. LLC of New York. At the time, Mr. Chell was meeting with Nasdaq officials to discuss the company’s delisting.
When asked about Chell and the firm’s investment, Joseph Gunnar executive Steven Stein declined to comment.
RESTORING TRUST
Against that backdrop, Mr. Rice will be in charge of leading Prudential Securities through a difficult market and reassuring both his brokers and clients that the firm is a model of integrity.
The seriousness of Wall Street’s image problems was a hot topic at the Securities Industry Association’s annual meeting of brokerage executives last month in Boca Raton, Fla.
“There’s an anger out there,” New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso said in the keynote speech.
Prudential Securities has not been directly involved in the scandals that have eroded investor confidence in Wall Street brokerage houses.
Exiting the investment banking business in early 2001, the firm had little, if any, hand in bringing to the market the technology and Internet companies that snared other major Wall Street firms in scandal.
But Prudential Securities has been hemorrhaging cash, and Prudential Financial chief executive Arthur Ryan has been shopping the firm.
Through the first nine months of the year, its private-client group had lost $21 million, compared with $105 million a year earlier.
Mr. Rice is well regarded at Prudential Securities, say sources both inside and outside the firm. But his youth and inexperience have raised concerns for some.
“He never ran a branch at Smith Barney,” says one industry observer. “Now he’s running a firm?” |
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| To: jjs64 who wrote (449) | 4/15/2003 6:31:21 PM | | From: StockDung | | | | Wolfson Is Convicted In `Pump and Dump' Penny-Stock Scheme
By Kara
Scannell
The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
THREE YEARS AGO, federal prosecutors capped an undercover sting operation with the arrest of 120 stockbrokers and others, in a bid to root out small-stock
manipulation.
This week, a federal jury in New York City convicted one of the biggestplayers in the case.
Allen Wolfson, a 57-year-old Salt Lake City penny-stock promoter, was found guilty Wednesday of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire
fraud and commercial bribery, five counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Mr. Wolfson could face as
long as 19 years in prison.
Mr. Wolfson was the mastermind of the vast "pump and dump" scheme from late 1998 through 2000, in which stockbrokers and others were bribed with commissions of as much as 65% of trading value to artificially pump up the price of six stocks, take a profit and then dump them onto other investors, according to David C. Esseks and Robert Hotz, the lead prosecutors in the case. Being paid
fees to promote a stock isn't illegal, but not disclosing it to investors is. Said Christopher Bruno, Mr. Wolfson's lawyer: "Obviously, we are disappointed
with the jury's verdict."
The case was part of the government's largest crackdown on alleged small-stock manipulation, which through an undercover sting dubbed "Operation Uptick" led to
the arrest in June 2000 of the 120 stockbrokers, as well as promoters and organized-crime members. Of those arrested, 95 people have been convicted. Mr.
Wolfson operated one of several Wall Street penny-stock operations cited in the cases. In his case, seven people were indicted; six pleaded guilty, and Mr. Wolfson was found guilty.
The Wolfson verdict underscores that even with all the scrutiny of Wall Street in recent years, weeding out recidivists isn't easy. In 1977, Mr. Wolfson
was convicted by a Florida state jury for defrauding a Florida bank; he received 10 months' probation. In 1982, a Florida state jury found Mr. Wolfson guilty of
funneling illegally large contributions to political candidates. That violated his probation, and Mr. Wolfson was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. In
1987, he was convicted of three felony counts related to overstating the value of a building used as collateral for a loan. In 1996, Mr. Wolfson was arrested in a penny-stock manipulation sting; those charges were dismissed.
But prosecutors say when he was on probation in 1996, Mr. Wolfson spoke with an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and set up his next
scheme, which ultimately led to Wednesday's conviction. Moreover, prosecutors allege that while Mr. Wolfson was out on bail following his June 2000 arrest, he
engaged in another "pump and dump" scheme involving shares of Freedom Surf Inc. In December 2002, the government indicted him on securities-fraud charges in
federal court in Manhattan; that case was put on hold until the outcome of the 2000 case.
Prior to the latest trial, prosecutors sought to have Mr. Wolfson remanded to jail, because of the 2002 charges. But his lawyers persuaded Judge John G.
Koeltl to put him under house detention. Since his conviction, Mr. Wolfson has been jailed.
In the 2000 case, Mr. Wolfson's lawyers argued that he did help the six fledgling companies by restructuring their debt and giving advice on auditing and legal services in exchange for the stock. While Mr. Bruno conceded that
Mr. Wolfson paid fees to the brokers to market the stocks, he asserted that it was the brokers' responsibility -- not Mr. Wolfson's -- to tell the customers they
were receiving these fees.
Mr. Wolfson's 2000 pump-and-dump scheme originated from his offices in Salt Lake City, where he operated several shell consulting companies, according to the indictment. Through these entities, he received stock in six nascent
companies in exchange for consulting services. In a bid to throw investigators off the trail, Mr. Wolfson added another layer between him and the brokers:He
enlisted Michael Grecco, an associate of the Colombo crime family in New York, to direct trades to market makers, who, in return for a commission, made sure
brokers bought stock from Mr. Wolfson, according to prosecutors. Mr. Grecco then had these bribes, often as much as 40%, passed to the brokers at a number of
boiler rooms in and around Manhattan.
Among those investors was Thomas V. Tofany, a 52-year-old owner of a health club in Lakeville, N.Y. Mr. Tofany testified in court that he never bought stock
before he received a call in 1999 from Thomas Cordano, a J. Banks Securities stockbroker. By March 1999, at the recommendation of the broker, Mr. Tofany said
he invested $165,000 in ATR Industries, a Palm Beach, Fla., home-cleaning company. ATR had never turned a profit, but Mr. Cordano said the company's new
plan to sell discounted beauty products over the Internet would change its fate.
"He told me that this was something that was going to be very good for me," Mr. Tofany testified.
Soon after he bought the shares, the stock plunged. At Mr. Tofany's direction, the broker began selling some of the shares, but he had difficulty selling them
all because the stock was thinly traded.
Mr. Tofany lost more than $100,000. His broker, Mr. Cordano, was paid $32,000 in commission by Mr. Wolfson, according to Mr. Tofany's testimony. Mr. Tofany
testified Mr. Cordano never told him he was being paid a 20% commission to promote the stock. In January, Mr. Grecco was sentenced to three years, 10
months in prison. Mr. Cordano couldn't be reached for comment. |
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