Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) staff have laid 16 charges against two Calgary-area residents in connection with a suspected 2010 market manipulation (pump and dump) of Calgary-based Coastal Pacific Mining Corp. securities.
Coastal Pacific Mining trades on Over-The-Counter quotation systems in the United States.
ASC staff charged Coastal Pacific Mining’s president and CEO Joseph Gaetano Bucci, and Caroline Meyers (a.k.a. Caroline Winsor, a.k.a. Caroline Danforth), the principal of Calgary-based International Securities Group Inc. with trading without registration or a prospectus and making prohibited transactions.
Staff allege that both Bucci and Meyers collaborated in setting up Coastal Pacific Mining Corp. as a “pump and dump” shell company over a number of years, finally implementing the market manipulation that occurred in late 2010.
A pump and dump scheme involves individuals who promote or “pump” the purchase of a specific company’s stock to drive up the value of the stock. The individuals then sell or “dump” their shares at the increased price and stop promoting the stock, which causes the stock value to plummet, leaving investors with worthless shares.
None of the charges has been proven in court.
The first appearance in this matter has been set for March 8 in Calgary.