Financial Enforcement Actions | Week of October 26 to November 01

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Leicester Vehicle Finance Ltd
Violation: LVFL has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the Return. LVFL has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, in that LVFL has failed to respond adequately to the Authority’s repeated requests for it to submit the Return, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the Authority’s Principles for Businesses and to satisfy the Authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system…. Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: JGS Motors Ltd
Violation: JML has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the Return. JML has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, in that JML has failed to respond adequately to the Authority’s repeated requests for it to submit the Return, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the Authority’s Principles for Businesses and to satisfy the Authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Vanspares (Llandow) Ltd
Violation: VLL has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the Return. VLL has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, in that VLL has failed to respond adequately to the Authority’s repeated requests for it to submit the Return, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the Authority’s Principles for Businesses and to satisfy the Authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Agora Financial LLC
Violation: CLAL has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the Return. CLAL has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, in that CLAL has failed to respond adequately to the Authority’s repeated requests for it to submit the Return, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the Authority’s Principles for Businesses and to satisfy the Authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Agora Financial LLC
Violation: Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 53(b), empowers this Court to grant injunctive and such other relief as the Court may deem appropriate to halt and redress violations of any provision of law enforced by the FTC. The Court, in the exercise of its equitable jurisdiction, may award ancillary relief, including rescission or reformation of contracts, restitution, the refund of monies paid, and the disgorgement of ill-gotten monies, to prevent and remedy any violation of any provision of law enforced by the FTC… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Nerium International, LLC
Violation: Based on the facts and violations of law alleged in this Complaint, the FTC has reason to believe that Defendants are violating or are about to violate laws enforced by the Commission. Nerium BPs continue to make false income claims and unsubstantiated claims about Nerium EHT, and Nerium’s compensation plan continues to incentivize recruiting new BPs over product sales… Read More

Penalties: $160,000.00
Respondent: DFRF Enterprises LLC, et al.
Violation: The SEC alleged that investors were falsely told that the DFRF entities, purported gold mining companies, owned more than 50 gold mines in Africa and Brazil, and that an investment in these companies would be fully insured and guaranteed. The defendants allegedly raised more than $15 million from at least 1,400 investors between 2014 and 2015 by recruiting new members in pyramid scheme fashion to keep the fraud afloat. Commissions were allegedly paid to earlier investors in a Ponzi-like fashion to encourage their recruitment efforts… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Artisanal Brands, Inc. and Daleco Resources Corporation,
Violation: AHFP has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since the period ended February 28, 2013… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: PixarBio Corp. et al.
Violation: PixarBio employee Kenneth Stromsland misled investors with false claims about PixarBio’s progress in developing a purported method of delivering non-opiate, postoperative pain medication. The complaint also alleged that Reynolds, his close friend M. Jay Herod, and Stromsland engaged in a fraudulent scheme to acquire and merge PixarBio with a publicly traded company and to secretly manipulate the sales of shares in the new entity. The SEC previously obtained a preliminary injunction to stop the ongoing fraud and freeze assets held by Reynolds and PixarBio. Stromsland and Herod pleaded guilty in the parallel criminal case to securities fraud and obstructing the SEC’s investigation… Read More

Penalties: $131,952.00
Respondent: XBT Corp Sarl d/b/a First Global Credit
Violation: Respondent violated Section 5(e) of the Securities Act and Section 6(l) of the Exchange Act because the transactions were not executed with eligible contract participants, no registration statements were in effect, and the contracts were not effected on a national securities exchange. As a result of the conduct described above, Respondent violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act by acting as an unregistered dealer on every security-based swap transaction… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Cameron G. High
Violation: The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) against Cameron G. High (“Respondent”)… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: LD Holdings, Inc., Mansfield-Martin Exploration Mining, Inc., and RadTek, Inc.,
Violation: MCPI has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since its Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2017… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: IMC Holdings, Inc., Microphase Corporation, and Wintahenderson International, Inc.,
Violation: Microphase has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since the period ended March 31, 2017… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Kevin B. Merrill, et al.
Violation: The criminal charges against Ledford stem from the same misconduct alleged in the SEC’s complaint, filed on September 13, 2018 in federal district court in Baltimore. From at least 2013 to 2018, Ledford and co-defendant Kevin B. Merrill allegedly attracted investors by making false statements about how investors’ money would be used and propping up their misstatements by creating sham entities and fraudulent documents. Rather than use investor funds to acquire and service debt portfolios as promised, the amended complaint alleges that defendants used the money to make Ponzi-like payments to investors and to fund Merrill’s and Ledford’s extravagant lifestyles. Another codefendant, Cameron R. Jezierski, entered a guilty plea in the parallel criminal case and is awaiting sentencing… Read More

Penalties: $274,339.00
Respondent: Bovorn Rungruangnavarat
Violation: The SEC’s action, filed May 4, 2018, charged Bovorn Rungruangnavarat with insider trading in coordination with his brother, Badin Rungruangnavarat. According to the complaint, the two brothers conducted numerous transactions in Smithfield securities after learning of the potential acquisition from a close, personal friend who worked as an investment banker. The SEC previously charged Badin with insider trading in June 2013 and, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Badin settled those charges… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Bakken Resources, Inc., Ireland Inc., and Worlds Mall, Inc.,
Violation: IRLD has failed to comply with Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13 thereunder because it has not filed any periodic reports with the Commission since the Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2017… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Matthew Leaverton
Violation: Complaint alleged that the Defendants, including Leaverton, knew the offering materials and website contained materially false and misleading information, including that (1) the securities had a guaranteed return of 10% per year; (2) the drilling programs were productive and profitable, when many of the wells were dry holes; and (3) investor funds would be used for a variety of legitimate oil-and-gas related activites when, in fact, they were being used to pay, among other things, Ponzi payments to other investors, significant personal expenses of VanBlaricum and others, and large undisclosed sales commissions… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: James VanBlaricum
Violation: The Complaint also alleged that he knew the offering materials and website contained materially misleading and false information, including: (1) that the securities had a guaranteed return of 10% per year; (2) that the drilling programs were productive and profitable, when many of the wells were dry holes; and (3) that investor funds would be used for a variety of legitimate oil-and-gas related activites when, in fact, they were being used to pay, among other things, Ponzi payments to other investors, significant personal expenses, and large undisclosed sales commissions. VanBlaricum controlled TEM, but concealed his involvement and used an alias when dealing with investors to hide his past history with Signal Oil and Gas Company (“Signal”), another securities fraud he operated immediately before TEM… Read More

Penalties: $4,638,320.00
Respondent: North Star Finance LLC et al.
Violation: Defendants Michael K. Martin and Capital Source Lending LLC from violating Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”). The Court also enjoined them from directly or indirectly participating in the issuance, offer, or sale of any security, with the exception of the purchase or sale of securities listed on national securities exchanges. Martin was further enjoined from violating Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: James T. Booth
Violation: The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b)(6) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) against James T. Booth (“Respondent”)… Read More

Penalties: N/A
Respondent: Jan D. Atlas, Esq
Violation: Atlas knew both letters included materially false and misleading information or omitted material information. The letters falsely stated that: (1) 1 Global offered its notes to sophisticated investors, when Atlas knew 1 Global also offered its notes to unsophisticated investors; and (2) 1 Global offered nine-month notes to investors when, in reality, Atlas knew the company had previously offered 12-month notes to investors. In addition, Atlas knew his letter omitted the fact that the notes contained an automatic renewal feature that made them, in reality, longer than nine months… Read More

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