Rene Hamouth NEWS
SEC wins $446,000 (U.S.) on Vohra offshore accounts
Securities and Exchange Commission *SEC
Thu 28 Feb 2002 Street Wire
Also Securities and Exchange Commission (U:*SEC)
by Brent Mudry
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has won $446,000 in
default judgments against three offshore accounts used by notable former
Canadian penny stock promoter Rajiv Vohra and partner Sean Healey in the
rig job of New Directions Manufacturing Inc. on the OTC Bulletin Board in
1997 and 1998. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The fines bring the SEC's
total tally to $1.43-million, almost triple the estimated illicit profits
of $500,000 in the stock manipulation, which featured offshore accounts at
three Canadian brokerages.
Mr. Vohra, 48, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Mr. Healey, 44, of Foxboro,
Mass., used Bahamian accounts named Lantern Investments Ltd., Lipton
Holdings Ltd. and Beaufort Holdings Ltd. at Canadian brokerages Yorkton
Securities, now defunct Merit Investment and Dominick & Dominick. Mr. Vohra
also rigged trading through accounts in his name at Yorkton, Merit and U.S.
brokerage Equitrade Securities.
Mr. Vohra is best known as the former associate of controversial West
Vancouver stock promoter Rene Hamouth in the Penway Explorers scandal a
decade ago. Both were acquitted after a high-profile Canadian penny stock
manipulation trial. (Mr. Hamouth was not involved in the New Directions
affair.)
The SEC disclosed Thursday that United States District Judge Patricia Seitz
of the Southern District of Florida entered default judgments earlier this
month against Lantern, Lipton and Beaufort. The judge imposed civil fines
of $100,000 each against the trio, plus disgorgement orders of $61,903 and
interest of $14,124 against Beaufort and $57,702 plus interest of $12,300
against Lantern. "Vohra and Healey attempted to conceal their scheme by
conducting much of their activity through Canadian brokerage accounts and
the Bahamian companies," states the SEC.
The SEC news comes two days after Canadian securities regulators, preparing
for a broad crackdown on offshore abuses, released an industry survey
showing Canadian brokerages service a whopping 13,000 accounts in two dozen
offshore jurisdictions blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force on
Money Laundering, an agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development.
In earlier decisions in the New Directions case, Judge Seitz fined Mr.
Vohra a total of $843,000 in January, including $599,000 in disgorgement,
$134,400 in interest and a $110,000 civil fine, and Mr. Healey a total of
$146,000 last April, including $66,821 in disgorgement, a similar fine and
$12,358 in interest. Mr. Healey was also banned for five years from the
penny stock industry.
(c) Copyright 2002 Canjex Publishing Ltd. stockwatch.com
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