SEC Issues Stop Order to Prevent Northern California Company From Issuing Stock Under Amended Registration Statement
The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued a stop order to prevent a Northern California-based company from issuing stock after including false and misleading information in its amended registration statement for an initial public offering (IPO). Stop orders prevent the sale of privately held shares to the public under a registration statement that is materially misleading or deficient. If a stop order is issued, no new shares can enter the market under that registration statement until the company has corrected the deficiencies or misleading information. According to the SEC’s stop order against Comp Services Inc., its registration statement fails to…
Read MoreSEC Charges Former Stock Promoter With Defrauding Investors in Florida Real Estate Venture
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed fraud charges against a former Florida-based stock promoter currently serving a two-year prison sentence for lying to SEC investigators. The SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida alleges that Robert J. Vitale defrauded investors in a Florida real estate venture, sold unregistered securities, and acted as an unregistered broker-dealer. Vitale and his firm Realty Acquisitions & Trust Inc. raised at least $8.7 million from investors, including many senior citizens. Vitale allegedly told investors their funds were “100% protected” when they were not, and he claimed to be…
Read MoreSEC Charges Technology Company Insider in California With Tipping Confidential Information Exploited by Hedge Funds
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed insider trading charges against a former accounting manager at Nvidia Corp. who tipped a friend with confidential company information that set in motion a chain of tipping and illegal trading among a network of hedge fund traders who reaped millions of dollars in illicit gains. The SEC alleges that Chris Choi of San Jose, Calif., tipped his friend Hyung Lim with nonpublic information about Nvidia’s financial performance in advance of the technology company’s quarterly earnings announcements in 2009 and 2010. Lim relayed Choi’s information to a fellow poker player Danny Kuo, who was…
Read MoreMauri Osheroff to Retire After Nearly 40 Years at SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Mauri L. Osheroff, associate director for regulatory policy in the Division of Corporation Finance, is retiring on April 30 after nearly 40 years at the SEC. "Mauri Osheroff's career is an inspiration to all those called to public service,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “For nearly four decades, Mauri has worked tirelessly on behalf of American investors and I am deeply grateful for her efforts and expertise." Ms. Osheroff began her SEC career as a summer employee in 1973 and returned the following year after graduating from law school. She started…
Read MoreSEC Charges a Former Biopharmaceutical Company Executive and Two Others with Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former biopharmaceutical company executive and two others with insider trading on confidential information about the company’s key developmental drug. The company’s stock price fell sharply when it announced clinical trial results for the drug. Dr. Loretta Itri, president of pharmaceutical development and chief medical officer of Genta, Inc., her longtime friend, Dr. Neil Moskowitz, an emergency room physician, and one of his patients, were named in the insider-trading action. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the SEC alleged that Itri obtained material nonpublic information about Genta’s clinical…
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