WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2021) The US government has charged a stocks issuing company, its CEO and six other individuals or entities with participating in a penny stock fraud scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Monday.
"The SEC today announced it charged an issuer, its CEO, and six other entities and individuals with participating in a penny stock fraud scheme," the regulator said in a press release. "The SEC also charged certain of the participants with operating as unregistered dealers."
According to the SEC's complaint, GPL Ventures purchased, since at least July 2017, more than 1.5 billion shares of HempAmericana stock through a Regulation A offering, with the understanding that HempAmericana would use a portion of the offering proceeds to secretly finance stock promotions, the release said.
"The complaint alleges that HempAmericana misled investors regarding its use of the offering proceeds, and that co-defendants Seaside Advisors and Lawrence Adams paid a stock promoter who, in turn, funded promotions of HempAmericana's stock that failed to disclose HempAmericana's role in financing the promotions," the release added.
GPL Ventures and certain of the defendants allegedly reaped about $11 million in illegal profits from this fraudulent scheme, the release added.
The complaint charges the defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Federal securities laws, and seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, according to the release.
