Penny Stock

Eight People Implicated in $39M Penny Stock Fraud Get Prison Sentences, Must Pay Restitution
In Ohio, eight people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from almost two years to a dozen years for their involvement in a penny stock scam that caused investors to suffer $39M in losses. One of the defendants, Zirk de Maison, received the 12-year sentence. He was ordered to pay $39.1M in restitution. The other defendants also were ordered to pay restitution in lower amounts.

According to prosecutors, the defendants conspired to bilk investors and potential ones in a number of public issuers. They did this by putting out millions of shares and artificially controlling the price and volume of the shares that were traded. This was accomplished through undisclosed commissions paid to brokers, boiler room operators, and promoters who got investors to invest, as well as through the fraudulent concealment of ownership interests in the companies in which the funds were invested.

In some instances, brokers and ex-brokers were paid illegal kickbacks of sometimes up to 50%. Clients were not told of these payments. The co-conspirators used most of investors’ money to enrich themselves. Some of the defendants were boiler room owners.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging ex-Samoyedic’s Inc. and Fun Cool Free Inc. founder Craig V. Sizer and boiler room operator Miguel Mesa with involvement in a $20M penny stock scam to bilk senior investors and others. At least 600 investors were allegedly victimized in the fraud. The two men have consented to partial settlements of the civil charges accusing them of violating broker-dealer registration and anti-fraud provision of federal securities laws. However, they are not admitting to or denying the claims.

According to the Commission, Sizer hired Mesa to draw in and bilk investors in both his companies. Mesa ran boiler rooms in California and Florida. Sizer gave Mesa pitch points for boiler room agents to use when selling stock shares. The points included alleged misrepresentations, including that investor money would go toward development and research but not toward commissions. Sizer also purportedly solicited investors by phone using the same misrepresentations and omissions to sell company shares.

Unfortunately, contends the regulator, the two men misappropriated about 90% of the money raised for their own enrichment and to pay the agents their sales commissions of 15-20%. Sizer is accused of using at least $3M on his own spending.

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