Thursday August 2, 2:06 pm Eastern Time
SEC alleges investors lost $240,000 in fake IPO
WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have filed suit against four businessmen, alleging they defrauded 14 investors out of about $240,000 in a fake mining and public offering scheme.
The suit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused William Kraemer, Donald McCourt, George Helm and Robin Sampson in the fraudulent sale of securities in Prexomet Corp., a Nevada company based in Rhode Island.
``The scheme preyed upon the investing public's susceptibility to get-rich-quick ventures involving mining rights and initial public offerings by start-up companies,'' the filing said.
From April 1997 to at least early 2000, the four defendants made numerous false statements to investors about an Arizona mine that was not owned by the company, the SEC said.
The defendants also allegedly told the investors for three years that Prexomet would go public within a few weeks or months, despite having never filed the required paperwork with
SEC.
Former Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, resident Kraemer, who is now residing in Europe, founded the company, the suit said.
One investor told his father and sister about the firm, and they invested an additional $105,000 in the company, it said. None of the 14 investors has received any return from their initial investments, according to SEC documents.
Lawyers for the defendants were not immediately available for comment. |
