From today's SEC Digest:
FINAL JUDGMENT ENTERED AGAINST CLAUDE SAVAGE
The Commission announced that on August 24 a final judgment of permanent injunction was entered against Claude W. Savage (Savage), of Charlotte N.C., enjoining him from committing future violations of the registration and antifraud provision of the federal securities laws. The final judgment also requires Savage to pay disgorgement of $50,000 but waives payment of additional disgorgement and does not impose civil penalties based on Savage's demonstrated financial inability to pay. Savage consented to the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint.
The Commission's complaint, filed on March 16, 1998, alleges that, beginning in April 1995, International Heritage, Inc. (IHI), a North Carolina corporation; through Savage and others, solicited individuals throughout the United States to invest in a pyramid scheme. IHI raised more than $150 million from over 155,000 investors. The complaint alleges that interests in the program, which are described by IHI as business centers, are securities. In addition to selling interests in the pyramid scheme, between July 17, 1997 and November 1, 1997, the defendants sold $5 million in notes convertible into shares of IHI common stock. The defendants knowingly misrepresented IHI's financial condition to investors and concealed the fact that IHI was operating a pyramid scheme. Savage was a founder and director of IHI. [SEC v. International Heritage, Inc., Stanley H. Van Etten, Claude W. Savage, Larry G. Smith and International Heritage Incorporated, a Nevada corporation, Civil Action File No. 1:98-CV-0803-TLS, N.D. Ga.] (LR-16264)
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