Stock Promotions – Page 8

Autris $AUTR Online landing page pump & dump

Sarting a few days ago I started receiving promotional emails promoting Autris (AUTR) and linking to the website at http://www.risingstockadvisor.com/autr/

Given the low budget and the weak state of the market for stock promotions, I think this will likely never get much volume and will slowly fade.

Disclosed budget: $400,000
Promoter: OS Media Limited
Paying party: ???
Shares outstanding: 42,604,556
Previous closing price: $0.33
Market capitalization: $14 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

OS Media Ltd has managed a total production budget of up to $400,000 for advertising efforts and will retain any amounts over and above the cost of production, copywriting services, mailing and other distribution expenses, as a fee for its services. Rising Stock Advisor is paid $2,500 as an editorial fee from OS Media Ltd and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of this advertising effort.

Full disclaimer:

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This advertising issue of Rising Stock Advisor does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation by Rising Stock Advisor or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Autris, (AUTR), the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising by OS Media Ltd to provide public awareness for AUTR. Rising Stock Advisor and OS Media Ltd have used outside research and writers using public information to create the advertisement coming from Rising Stock Advisor about AUTR. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, Rising Stock Advisor and OS Media Ltd makes no warranties as to the accuracy of any of the content herein and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. All commodity, stock prices and theoretical projections were current as of the writing of this advertisement. Prices and projections may not be current as of the dissemination of this advertisement. Readers should perform their own due-diligence, including consulting with a licensed, qualified investment professional or analyst. Further, readers are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this advertisement and perform extensive due diligence on this or any other advertised company. Rising Stock Advisor is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by a state security administrator. Check with http://www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. Many companies have information filed with state securities regulators and many will supply investors with additional information on request. OS Media Ltd has managed a total production budget of up to $400,000 for advertising efforts and will retain any amounts over and above the cost of production, copywriting services, mailing and other distribution expenses, as a fee for its services. Rising Stock Advisor is paid $2,500 as an editorial fee from OS Media Ltd and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of this advertising effort. More information can be received from AUTR’s investor relations firm (http://www.autris.com/investor-alerts/). Further, specific financial information, filings and disclosures as well as general investor information about publicly traded companies like AUTR, advice to investors and other investor resources are available at the Securities and Exchange Commission website www.sec.gov and www.nasd.com. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment advisor and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of and other information about the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk especially as to new companies with limited operations and no history of earnings. The information contained herein contains forward-looking Information within the meaning of section 27a of the Securities Act of 1993, as amended, and section 21e of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding expected growth of the featured company. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, AUTR notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth.

PDF copy of landing page

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned above. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Stock promoter Eric Cusimano pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit stock fraud

Eric Cusimano, former owner of BestDamnPennystocks.com and related websites, pled guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and to tax evasion. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 26th. While I do think that Eric Cusimano is scum he did at least have the decency to insist that the government drop charges against his wife as part of his plea deal.

As part of the plea, Cusimano turned over over $1.2 million, two pieces of property in New York’s southern tier, a boat, several “valuable” pieces of jewelry, and $340,000 which he had stored in accounts in Panama and Belize

Of course the forfeiture is only a small portion of the over $7 million that investigators say Cusimano made over the four year period.

See these local news stories on the plea for more details:

Federal court seizes millions from former Jamestown man, sets record
Chautauqua County stockbroker pleads guilty to duping investors

I have written about Cusimano’s legal troubles a few times over the last several months:

Promoters Eric Cusimano & Jamie Boye indicted
Full text of the Bestdamnpennystocks.com Cusimano/Boye indictment
Update on USA v. Cusimano & Boye
Prosecutors close to plea deals with stock promoters Boye and Cusimano

Jamie Boye, a stock promoter who worked closely with Cusimano and who was also charged in this same case, remains in plea talks with prosecutors, and and in the mean time the trial has been adjourned until February 6th:

With respect to Defendant Boye, the parties have been actively discussing a pretrial resolution, and a draft plea agreement has been prepared and provided to the defendant for review. Additional time is necessary for defense counsel to review the draft plea with Defendant Boye and to finalize plea discussion with the
government. Therefore, the parties are requesting additional time to allow a change of plea and sentence to occur in the present case relating to Defendant Boye.

Recent court filings:

GOVERNMENT’S NOTICE OF THIRD MOTION FOR AN ADJOURNMENT OF THE RULE 48(b) DISMISSAL ORDER (12/18/2014)

ORDER FOR ADJOURNMENT (12/18/2014)

Disclaimer: I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

SEC Suspends trading in perennial pump Geo Finance Corp $GEFI

Three days ago the SEC suspended trading in Geo Finance Corp (GEFI). This stock has been pumped and dumped numerous times, most recently on December 9th to 11th by EpicStockPicks.com, StockoftheWeek.net, UnitedPenniesofAmerica.com, Pennypicks.net, DamnGoodPennyPicks.com, ImpressivePennystocks.com, TodaysPennyStocks.com and BeatPennyStocks.com.

See SEC suspension notice for GEFI (PDF)

The reason for the suspension was the usual boilerplate about innacurate information and potentially manipulative activity:

The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of GEFI because of concerns regarding the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative activity related to GEFI common stock.

The Commission acknowledges the assistance of FINRA in this matter

Continuing a recent trend of increased activity by FINRA, the SEC acknowledged FINRA’s assistance (above).

Coinciding with the recent pump the company put out two press releases on December 9th, which likely also played a part in the suspension:

GEO Finance Corp (OTC: GEFI) Gears Up To Provide First Set Of Evaluation Batteries For United AirlinesPR Newswire(Tue, Dec 9)
Geo Finance Corp Announces Move Into Manufacturing State of the Art Power SystemsPR Newswire(Tue, Dec 9)

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Coastal Integrated Services $COLV gets a Wall Street Revelator pump

Coastal Integrated Services (COLV) is a new Wall Street Revelator landing page pump for which I received my first pump email today although others reported receiving pump emails on the 4th. The email directed me to http://www.colvreport.com/

So far there is very little volume and it has about a 10% bid/ask spread. Because is is a Wall Street Revelator / Andy Carpenter pump there is a good chance that there will be hard mailers promoting COLV in the future. The large number of shares outstanding makes me think it unlikely that this pump will go up much if at all. Per Promotion Stock Secrets there are at least 28 million free-trading shares available to be dumped into the pump.

Disclosed budget: $12,500
Promoter: Wall Street Revelator / Andy Carpenter
Paying party: ?
Shares outstanding: 352,487,940
Previous closing price: $0.39
Market capitalization: $137 million

main-landing-top

Excerpt from disclaimer:

The publisher was paid the sum of $12,500 for his contributions.

Full disclaimer:

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This stock profile should be viewed as a paid advertisement. This publication is distributed free of charge and does not provide an analysis of a company’s financial position. The information contained herein has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as a complete source of information on any particular company, including Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV). Simply Lids Inc financial position and all other information regarding Simply Lids Inc should be verified with the company. An individual should never invest in the securities of any company, including COLV, based solely on information contained in this advertisement. Information about many publicly traded companies, including Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV), and other investor resources can be found at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. It is recommended that any investment in any security should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing all publicly available information, including the financial statements of the company. This mailing piece is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor should it be construed as the provision of any investment-related advice or services tailored to any particular individual’s financial situation or investment objective(s). The publisher, Andrew & Lynn Carpenter, dba The Wall Street Revelator, understands that in an effort to enhance public awareness of Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV) and its securities through the distribution of this advertisement. If successful, the Advertisement will increase investor and market awareness, which may result in increased numbers of shareholders owning and trading the common stock of Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV) increased trading volumes, and possibly increased share price of the common stock ofCoastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV).This advertisement was paid by non-affiliate shareholders who fully intend to sell their shares without notice into this Advertisement/market awareness campaign, including selling into increased volume and share price that may result from this Advertisement/market awareness campaign. The non-affiliate shareholders may also purchase shares without notice at any time before, during or after this Advertisement/market awareness campaign. It is believed that all outside research, materials and information used to compile this Advertisement, are accurate and reliable. However, each person should perform their own due diligence and consult with advisors of their choice in making any investment decision. The publisher was paid the sum of $12,500 for his contributions. If successful, this advertisement will increase investor and market awareness, which may result in increased numbers of shareholders owning and trading the common stock of Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV), increased trading volumes, and possibly increased share price of the common stock of Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV). The publisher may receive revenue, the amount of which cannot be determined to any degree of certainty, as a result of this advertising effort and the accompanying subscription offer. This publication is not, and should not be construed to be, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. This publication, its publisher, and its editor do not purport to provide a complete analysis of any company’s financial position. The publisher and editor are not, and do not purport to be, broker-dealers or registered investment advisors. Any investment should be made only after consulting a professional investment advisor and only after reviewing the financial statements and other pertinent corporate information about the company. Further, readers are advised to read and carefully consider the Risk Factors identified and discussed in the advertised company’s SEC filings. Investing in securities, particularly micro cap securities such as Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV), is speculative and carries a high degree of risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This publication is based exclusively on information generally available to the public and does not contain any material, non-public information. The information on which it is based is believed to be reliable. Nevertheless, the publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. This publication contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected continual growth of the featured company and/or industry. An individual should never invest in the securities of any company, including Coastal Integrated Services aka Simply Lids (COLV), based solely on information contained in this advertisement. Information about many publicly traded companies, including Simply Lids Inc,and other investor resources can be found at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. It is recommended that any investment in any security should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing all publicly available information, including the financial statements of the company. This mailing piece is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor should it be construed as the provision of any investment-related advice or services tailored to any particular individual’s financial situation or investment objective(s). The publisher notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company’s actual results of operations. The Wall Street Revelator and/or its publisher, Andrew & Lynn Carpenter, dba The Wall Street Revelator. All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. The Wall Street Revelator or Andrew & Lynn Carpenter are not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and are not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by The Wall Street Revelator or Andrew & Lynn Carpenter to any rights in any third-party trademarks. – !The Wall Street Revelator presents information in this report believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The Wall Street Revelator is not a registered broker dealer. Staff members of The Wall Street Revelator and its affiliates do not hold positions in investments mentioned herein. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Additionally, it includes forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding expected growth of the featured company. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectation, beliefs, plans.

PDF copy of landing page

Disclaimer: I have no position in COLV and will not trade it unless it gets significantly higher volume. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

IFAN Financial $IFAN Hard mailer pump and dump

IFAN Financial (IFAN) is the new hard mailer pump on the block. It has a low starting price for a hard mailer pump and a high purported budget that is likely overstated, judging by the trading volume in the stock. See the Promotion Stock Secrets article on the IFAN pump. There have also been two negative articles on IFAN on SeekingAlpha. Besides the hard mailer there is also a website landing page promoting IFAN at http://ifanreport.com/

Disclosed budget: $3,500,000
Promoter: Mintefor Investments Ltd and Don McShane
Paying party: ?
Shares outstanding: 79,960,020
Previous closing price: $0.61
Market capitalization: $48 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

Mintefor Investments LTD paid three million and five hundred thousand dollars to marketing vendors to pay for all the costs of creating and distributing this Advertisement, including printing and postage, in an effort to build investor and market awareness. Don McShane received twelve thousand dollars for this advertising campaign and expects to receive an unknown amount in subscription revenue.

Full disclaimer:

Disclaimer: We are in the business of marketing and advertising companies to generate exposure of them through newsletters for monetary compensation. This is paid advertising and does not purport to provide an analysis of the featured company’s financial position, operations or prospects. Because this advertisement has not been prepared with any one individuals financial condition or investment goals in mind it is not to be construed as a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. This newsletter nor any of its affiliates are not registered investment advisors or broker dealers. It is advisable to consult a registered investment advisor for advice on your specific investment situation. Mintefor Investments LTD paid three million and five hundred thousand dollars to marketing vendors to pay for all the costs of creating and distributing this Advertisement, including printing and postage, in an effort to build investor and market awareness. Don McShane received twelve thousand dollars for this advertising campaign and expects to receive an unknown amount in subscription revenue. Viewers of this advertisement should understand that trading activity and stock prices in many if not all cases tend to increase during the advertisement campaigns of the profiled company and in many if not all cases tend to decrease thereafter. This tends to create above average volatility and price movements in the profiled company’s stock during the advertisement campaign that viewers should take into consideration at all times. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, especially as to newer companies with comparatively short operating histories and limited earnings. You may lose your entire investment. If you cannot afford to lose your entire investment do NOT invest in penny stocks. This advertisement is based entirely upon information gathered from public information and third party websites. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, this newsletter makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the content of this advertisement, expressly disclaims and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content of this advertisement. Readers are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this advertisement and to perform their own due diligence on this or any other advertised company, including but not limited to consulting with a qualified investment professional, reviewing the publicly available financial statements of, and other information about these featured companies and verifying that an investment in that company is appropriate and suitable for you. This advertisement contains forward-looking statements about the featured company its business and prospects. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of Section Twenty Seven A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section Twenty One E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions created by these laws. Where a featured company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is believed to have a reasonable basis. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements.

PDF copy of landing page

[Edit 2014-12-19]: See this article on IFAN on SeekingAlpha. An updated chart is shown below. I no longer have any position in IFAN.

Disclaimer: I am short IFAN and will look to add to my short. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Prosecutors close to plea deals with stock promoters Boye and Cusimano

See my most recent post on the case against stock promoters Eric Cusimano, his wife Jessica, and Jamie Boye.

Three days ago the trial against Boye and the Cusimanos was adjourned until December in anticipation of all defendants reaching plea deals:

Since the initial appearance, counsel for the government has spoken
extensively with all defense counsel, and anticipate that a pretrial resolution will be reached
in this case for the defendants. In the case of Defendant Eric Cusimano and Defendant
Jessica Cusimano, the parties have discussed the parameters of a potential plea, and have a
nearly finalized plea document. The parties need to clarify a few minor issues, at which
point the plea will be submitted for approval. In the case of Defendant Jamie Boye, the
parties have discussed the parameters of a potential plea, and additional discovery has been
provided to assist in evaluating the plea. For all of the defendants, the pre-indictment plea
process has been lengthy due to the complex issues regarding the plea, including loss
calculations for guidelines purposes, associated tax issues, and the forfeiture of assets that
will accompany the plea. Therefore, the parties are requesting additional time to allow a
change of plea and sentence to occur in the present case.

Current docket report:

1:14-mj-00069-HKS All Defendants USA v. Cusimano et al
Date filed: 05/19/2014
Date of last filing: 10/24/2014

History

Doc.
No.

Dates

Description

Filed & Entered:	10/24/2014
Terminated:	10/24/2014

Motion to Adjourn

Filed & Entered:

10/24/2014

Order on Motion to Adjourn

Filed & Entered:

09/22/2014

Oral Argument

Filed & Entered:

09/22/2014

Order on Motion for Reconsideration

Filed & Entered:

09/22/2014

Bond

Filed & Entered:

09/22/2014

Order Setting Conditions of Release

Filed & Entered:

09/16/2014

Order on Motion to Adjourn

Filed & Entered:	09/15/2014
Terminated:	09/16/2014

Motion to Adjourn

Filed & Entered:	09/12/2014
Terminated:	09/22/2014

Motion for Reconsideration

Filed & Entered:

09/11/2014

Order on Motion for Leave to Appear

Filed & Entered:

09/10/2014

Add and Terminate Attorneys

Filed & Entered:

09/05/2014

Writ of Habeas Corpus ad Prosequendum Executed

Filed & Entered:	09/05/2014
Terminated:	09/11/2014

Motion to Appear

Filed & Entered:

08/15/2014

Order

Filed:	08/13/2014
Entered:	08/14/2014

Warrant Returned Executed

Filed & Entered:

07/24/2014

Warrant Returned Executed

Filed & Entered:

07/24/2014

Warrant Returned Executed

Filed:	06/30/2014
Entered:	07/01/2014

Order to Continue – Ends of Justice

Filed:	06/30/2014
Entered:	07/01/2014

Order to Continue – Ends of Justice

Filed:	06/30/2014
Entered:	07/01/2014

Order to Continue – Ends of Justice

Filed & Entered:

06/26/2014

Notice of Attorney Appearance – Defendant

Filed & Entered:

06/24/2014

Initial Appearance

Filed & Entered:

06/20/2014

Initial Appearance

Filed & Entered:

06/20/2014

Order

Filed:	06/17/2014
Entered:	06/19/2014

Writ of Habeas Corpus ad Prosequendum Issued

Filed:	06/17/2014
Entered:	06/19/2014

Petition and Order for Writ of Habeas Corpus ad Prosequendum

Filed & Entered:

06/16/2014

Initial Appearance

Filed & Entered:

06/16/2014

Notice of Hearing

Filed & Entered:

06/16/2014

Rule 5(c)(3) Documents Received

Filed:	06/16/2014
Entered:	06/17/2014

Order Setting Conditions of Release

Filed:	05/19/2014
Entered:	06/12/2014

Complaint

Falconridge Oil Technologies $FROT landing page pump

This morning at 7:01am I received an email from Marketing@insiderwealthalert.com with an advertisement for Falconridge Oil Technologies (FROT) linking to a website for the pump at http://frotinfo.com/

Given the low budget and the weak state of the market for stock promotions, I think this will likely never get much volume and will slowly fade.

Disclosed budget: $150,000
Promoter: Charles Moskowitz dba The Moskowitz Report
Paying party: Eclipse Media
Shares outstanding: 49,016,667
Previous closing price: $0.92
Market capitalization: $45 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

The publisher was paid the sum of $7,500 for his contributions. Eclipse Marketing has budgeted $150,000 for the week of October 20th, 2014 for the dissemination of this information to enhance public awareness for FROT

Full disclaimer:

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This stock profile should be viewed as a paid advertisement. The publisher, Charles Moskowitz dba The Moskowitz Report, understands that in an effort to enhance public awareness of FalconRidge Oil Ltd. and its securities through the distribution of this advertisement, Eclipse Media paid all of the costs associated with creating, printing and distribution of this advertisement. The publisher was paid the sum of $7,500 for his contributions. Eclipse Marketing has budgeted $150,000 for the week of October 20th, 2014 for the dissemination of this information to enhance public awareness for FROT If successful, this advertisement will increase investor and market awareness, which may result in increased numbers of shareholders owning and trading the common stock of FalconRidge Oil Ltd., increased trading volumes, and possibly increased share price of the common stock of FalconRidge Oil Ltd.. The publisher has not undertaken to determine if Eclipse Media is, or intends to be in the future, directly or indirectly, a shareholder of FalconRidge Oil Ltd.. The publisher may receive revenue, the amount of which cannot be determined to any degree of certainty, as a result of this advertising effort and the accompanying subscription offer. This publication is not, and should not be construed to be, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. This publication, its publisher, and its editor do not purport to provide a complete analysis of any company’s financial position. The publisher and editor are not, and do not purport to be, broker-dealers or registered investment advisors. Any investment should be made only after consulting a professional investment advisor and only after reviewing the financial statements and other pertinent corporate information about the company. Further, readers are advised to read and carefully consider the Risk Factors identified and discussed in the advertised company’s SEC filings. Investing in securities, particularly micro cap securities such as FalconRidge Oil Ltd., is speculative and carries a high degree of risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This publication is based exclusively on information generally available to the public and does not contain any material, non-public information. The information on which it is based is believed to be reliable. Nevertheless, the publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. This publication contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected continual growth of the featured company and/or industry. The publisher notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of the market for the company’s products and services, the ultimate degree of success in the company’s excursions, the company’s ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and long term, pricing pressures, etc. The Moskowitz Report is a trademark of Charles Moskowitz. All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. The Moskowitz Report and Charles Moskowitz are not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and are not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by The Moskowitz Report or Charles Moskowitz to any rights in any third-party trademarks.

PDF copy of landing page

Feds indict a bunch of stock promoters

I am a little slow to post this — these two separate cases were publicized last week. This looks like one more nail in the coffin of the biggest stock promotion scams. I have done little besides collect links to the best stories about the two different cases.

Titan Securities / IPC Corporate Securities / Legacy Global Markets / Robert Bandfield / Andrew Godfrey / Kelvin Leach / Rohn Knowles / Brian de Wit / Cem Can (Jim Can)

DoJ press release
Criminal indictment
SEC press release
SEC complaint
Promotion Stock Secrets case summary
Rise and fall of penny stock Cynk in Feds’ sights

Jay Fung / Eric Van Nguyen / Anthony Thompson / Hanna Schmeider / Kenneth Oxsalida / Joseph Dervali / Luz Rodriguez / Chrospher Balseiro

The first three names above should be familiar to long-time readers of this blog. Fung and Thompson were previously sued by the SEC back in May of 2012. Eric Van Nguyen worked with those two and had not been indicted or sued by the SEC. Eric also worked with John Babikian at least at first with the Awesomepennystocks websites (despite his claims to the contrary).

Manhattan Distract Attorney press release
Bloomberg article

One interesting tidbit from the Bloomberg article:

Many of the eight people whose indictment was announced today had never met each other and their only connection is that they had all worked with Sepe, Fritz said.

That leads me to believe that Sepe informed on the others. It will be interesting to see if that is the case.

Follow this case on New York’s court system website.

Stock promoters criminally charged for manipulative trading of marijuana stocks including $HEMP and $PHOT

Yesterday the SEC sued four promoters for manipulative trading in marijuana stocks and the Department of Justice joined the fun with a criminal case against three of the four. First I address the more serious criminal charges (see DoJ press release). The criminal charges relate to only one stock: ISM International (ISML).

Three men who allegedly manipulated penny stocks, and then laundered the proceeds by purchasing precious metals, were charged today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. MIKHAIL GALAS, 24, of Vancouver, Washington was arrested in Long Beach, California after he arrived on a flight from Portland, Oregon. He will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. CHRISTOPHER MROWCA, 24, was arrested in Bradenton, Florida and will make his initial appearance in Tampa. ALEXANDER HAWATMEH, 23, of Salem, Oregon is incarcerated in Oregon on an unrelated charge and will appear in federal court at a later date. In addition to the arrests, searches were conducted in Vancouver, Washington, Bradenton, Florida, Salem, Oregon and Boulder, Colorado.

Below is the criminal complaint against those three individuals:

USA v. Mrowca Et Al Doc 1 Filed 01 Aug 14 by Shannon Coleman

Of note: Christopher Mrowca controls Money Runners Group LLC, a scummy and generally ineffective stock promoter. Money Runners has their own InvestorsHub messageboard and website. Alexander Hawatmeh is a former member of Worthmore Investments LLC, the company that runs the StockHaven stock promotion and stock chat website (at least according to statements on the Stockhaven website). [Edited 2017-7-25: removed dead links to Stockhaven website (which has been defunct for years) and removed the names of others who were involved with Stockhaven who were not named in the above complaint. Also, I should note that Stockhaven/Worthmore were not mentioned in the SEC or criminal complaints.]

The SEC complaint includes five stocks, including PHOT and HEMP from early this year. It also includes a fourth individual, Tovy Pustovit:

Defendant Pustovit, age 20, is a resident of Vancouver, Washington. Pustovit was
5 the registered owner of a stock promotion website called “Explosive Alerts” from August 2012,
6 when the site was created, until August 2013.

Excerpt from SEC press release:

The SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Tacoma, Wash., charges the following individuals:

Mikhail Galas, a stock promoter who lives in Vancouver, Wash.

Alexander Hawatmeh, a member of Worthmore Investments LLC, which owns a stock promotion website called stockhaven.com. He formerly lived in Vancouver and currently resides in Lincoln City, Oregon.

Christopher Mrowca, a stock promoter who operates Money Runners Group LLC, which has an affiliated stock promotion website called MoneyRunnersGroup.com. He lives in Bradenton, Fla.

Tovy Pustovit, who owns a stock promotion website called Explosive Alerts. He also lives in Vancouver.

See the SEC complaint (PDF). The most profitable of all the stocks mentioned in the suits is RVDO:

142. On March 5, 2014, there was a promotion of RVDO over the Internet claiming
6 that RVDO would trade at $2 per share. The closing price of RVDO on March 4, 2014 was $.06
7 per share. This claim was misleading because there was no business development at RVDO that
8 would justify such a rise in price.
9 143. A. Hawatmeh had prior knowledge of the RVDO promotion and its timing.
10 144. Between 9:30 AM and 09:52 AM Eastern Time on March 5, 2014, A. Hawatmeh
11 sold approximately 3.23 million shares of RVDO common stock at prices ranging from $.28 per
12 share to $.90 per share.
13 145. A. Hawatmeh’s average selling price per share on March 5, 2014 was
14 approximately $.4375 per share, almost an eightfold increase over his average purchase price per
15 share.
16 146. A. Hawatmeh’s gross profits from trading RVDO between February 7, 2014 and
17 March 5, 2014 were over $1.23 million.

Perhaps the most interesting of all the promotions though are HEMP and PHOT, because they were very liquid during the period the accused were actively trading the stock. First, the details of PHOT:

Trading in PHOT
90. From January 9 to January 14, 2014, there was an Internet promotion of PHOT as part of a broader promotion of several marijuana-related stocks.
91. During that promotion, Mrowca and Galas traded approximately 6.4 million shares of PHOT common stock, and during and leading up to the promotion engaged in manipulative trading designed to increase the price and volume of PHOT common stock.
92. From January 2, 2014 through January 14, 2014, Mrowca engaged in wash trades of PHOT common stock and also engaged in matched orders of PHOT common stock with Galas

It is important to note that the defendants bought HEMP after it had already had its first run up to a high of just over $0.08 from under $0.02 at the beginning of 2014 — they started buying on January 23rd when the price was about $0.05. Even if they had not allegedly engaged in manipulative trading they likely would have made a lot of money.

Trading in HEMP
117. A. Hawatmeh, Galas and Mrowca began accumulating HEMP common stock
through market purchases on January 23, 2014. Between January 23, 2014 and February 12,
2014, A. Hawatmeh, Galas, and Mrowca bought and sold approximately 41.7 million shares of
HEMP common stock.
118. During the period from January 24 through February 12, 2014, HEMP was actively promoted on the Internet.
119. For example, on February 6, 2014, one Internet tout claimed that HEMP could reach “a REAL Possible Gain of OVER 2900%.”
120. During the promotion, A. Hawatmeh, Mrowca and Galas engaged in manipulative wash trades and matched orders of HEMP common stock.
121. The total trading volume for HEMP common stock in the A. Hawatmeh, Mrowca,and Galas accounts during this period was approximately 83 million shares.

hemp

AJ Discala and four others charged criminally for stock fraud

Again this is a late post. This happened on July 14th. This story received a lot of attention because one of the men charged criminally, AJ Discala, is famous. See the Dealbook article about the case.

SEC press release
SEC complaint
Department of Justice press release

A ten-count indictment was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, against seven defendants, Abraxas J. Discala, also known as “AJ Discala,” the Chief Executive Officer of OmniView Capital Advisors LLC (“OmniView”); Marc Wexler, the Managing Director of OmniView; Ira Shapiro, the Chief Executive Officer of CodeSmart Holdings, Inc. (“CodeSmart”), a publicly traded company; Matthew Bell, a registered broker and investment adviser representative; Craig Josephberg, a registered broker; Kyleen Cane, an attorney; and Victor Azrak, the Vice President and Director of Excel Corp., a publicly traded company. The charges include securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with the fraudulent market manipulation of four publicly traded companies—CodeSmart, trading under the ticker symbol ITEN; Cubed, Inc. (“Cubed”), trading under the ticker symbol CRPT; StarStream Entertainment Inc. (“StarStream”), trading under the ticker symbol SSET; and The Staffing Group, Ltd. (“Staffing Group”), trading under the ticker symbol TSGL. In addition, the government restrained Discala’s residence in Norwalk, Connecticut, worth over $1 million, and seized a dozen bank and brokerage accounts containing criminal proceeds.

…

As alleged in the indictment and other court filings, between October 2012 and July 2014, the defendants, together with others, agreed to defraud investors and potential investors in four public companies: CodeSmart, Cubed, StarStream and Staffing Group (collectively, the “Manipulated Public Companies”) by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares in the Manipulated Public Companies through, among other things: (a) false and misleading press releases; (b) false and misleading SEC filings; (c) fraudulent concealment of the defendants’ and their co-conspirators’ ownership interests; (d) engineering price movements and trading volume in the stocks; and (e) unauthorized purchases of stock in accounts of unwitting investors.

Here is the chart of one of the allegedly manipulated stocks, Codesmart:

See the criminal complaint:

USA v. Discala Et Al Doc 1 Filed 15 Jul 14 by Shannon Coleman