Many investors have bemoaned the performance of the shares of social media companies like Facebook after its public debut, but at least the action gave investors who paid.
Enforcement Division of the SEC announced fraud charges against Florida financial securities Craig Berkman, a former candidate for governor of Oregon, so that regulators say was a Ponzi scheme as promised investors access to the shares pre-IPO of Facebook and other companies.
In reality, the SEC alleges, Berkman was using the money - for shares of Facebook, LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga - to pay off earlier investors and personal expenses funds.
"Berkman
blatantly aprovechó he fervently the previous OPI expected market
Facebook y Further business social media to them investors wool Cuyo
flujo caja that was like an ATM to fund y sus own expenses to pay
ordered by the court claims them victims sus past misdeeds ", dijo Andrew Calamari, Director of the
New York office of the SEC Regional.
The SEC dice Berkman raise $ 13.2 million from 120 investors, with the promise of access to them shares pre-IPO of them companies Caliente incluyendo Facebook. Heche, regulating them say, one small portion of the land use of those funds, unos $ 600,000 to acquire shares in a "bottom without respect he had bought pre-IPO shares of Facebook."
Those interests, however, in the Law Berkman to sus customers it owned shares of Facebook, you are where the story takes otro cute as Berkman Lueg allegedly recruited John Kern as legal advisor to ayudar to allow him to cheat. The SEC also is charging Kern for falsely assure customers that sus funds had been used to buy pre-IPO shares of Facebook.
In one action related to it U.S. Attorney for
the Southern District of New York is stabilizing criminal charges
against Berkman for him regime, which dice are tambaleó $ 8 million, the
mayor of the Cuale "misappropriation su own benefit."
"Craig Berkman aprovechó he interest in one investment opportunity muy codiciado to defraud investors of millions" dijo Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "Su arrest, this follows Nuestra Trabajo Office to identify the perpetrators of financial fraud, hacerlos responsible y PROTECT them investors."
It Berkman 71 years 0ld detenido fue su Odessa, Florida home. Faces
20 years in prison for each one of them four positions (of securities
fraud, mail fraud for the) y bad one fine of $ 5 million.
Both civil and criminal las complaints referred to in ones Ventures, entitled Trust II - a vehicle Berkman dijo sus customers that the acquisition of shares of Facebook for the sale of them employees - y face. The latter entity, Berkman claimed, raise $ 40 - $ 50 million to buy a fund that controls 1,000,000 Pre-IPO shares of
Facebook, y ya had it back to
a billionaire investor. Heche,
her office it Bharara dice, Berkman was treated soil background with it
"intermittently" in the years and it multimillionaire mystery never
heard hablar Face Off, y Much less has committed to reverse.
Las shares of Facebook debuted it last May in one of them bad long-awaited initial public offering in years. From a Comienzo failed to quote him NASDAQ la fuerte them drop actions los primeros months of trading, the red just social tuvo one acogida smooth public marketplace. The action will Vuelta since then we, although the hare nothing to them allegedly snookered customers apuestas pre-IPO that never actually existed.
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