Another pair of Canadian men have been charged by U.S. authorities in connection with micro-cap market manipulation schemes.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a pair of Toronto-based penny stock promoters on Thursday with allegedly manipulating two micro-cap stocks.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey also brought criminal charges against them.
Mike Taxon and Itamar Cohen used glossy newsletters to tout the stock of a purported gold and silver exploration company, Raven Gold Corp., and a natural gas company, Kentucky USA Energy, U.S. authorities allege.
The newsletters contained false information about the stocks, the promoters’ identity, compensation, and their control of the stock, the SEC says, and it alleges that they, and their associates, controlled large blocks of the companies’ stocks and generated most of the trading activity.
The two men admitted their roles in the scheme that generated approximately US$17.2 million in illegal proceeds, of which Taxon and Cohen received approximately US$2.4 million, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.
They both pled guilty to changes of conspiracy to commit securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares, and will be sentenced on Sept. 2.
They also agreed to partial settlements of the SEC’s charges, with monetary sanctions to be determined by the court at a later date. And they consented to the entry of a judgment enjoining them from future violations and barring them from participating in penny stock offerings. The settlements are subject to court approval.
Earlier this week, the SEC and the U.S. attorney charged New York lawyer, Adam Gottbetter, for his role in the scheme involving Kentucky USA Energy stock. At that time, U.S. authorities also brought charges against two other Canadians for their alleged involvement with a different scheme masterminded by Gottbetter.