THE OTHER REGIS POSSINO FRAUD->SEC AMENDS COMPLAINT AND JOINS RAMIRO RAFAEL FERNANDEZ AS DEFENDANT IN ACTION
AGAINST FORMER EXECUTIVES OF TIMBER COMPANY MADERA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
The Commission today announced that, on Jan. 3, it filed an amended
complaint in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia joining Ramiro Rafael (Ray) Fernandez as an additional
defendant in its action against former executives of timber company
Madera International, Inc. The amended complaint also alleges
additional facts concerning the falsification of Madera's financial
statements from 1994 through 2000.
Ray Fernandez was Madera's Executive Vice President in charge of sales
and marketing and Chief Executive Officer of Madera International
Environmental, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madera. In December
1998, he was additionally elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Madera, and later, in November 2000, also became its Chief Executive
Officer, replacing his father, Ramiro M. Fernandez-Moris. The amended
complaint alleges that
* Fernandez signed, in his capacities as Director and Chairman of the
Board, Madera's fiscal year 1999 annual report on Form 10-K that was filed
with the SEC on March 8, 2000 and that contained numerous false statements.
* Fernandez posted numerous false statements concerning Madera on an
Internet message board during the period April through September 19, 2001.
* At the same time he inflated the share price of Madera through these
fraudulent public disclosures about Madera's assets, operations, and
revenues, Fernandez sold personal holdings of Madera common stock.
Specifically, from May 2000 through July 2001, Fernandez sold at least
7,939,200 shares of Madera common stock and obtained proceeds of at least
$68,791.65.
The Commission seeks relief against Fernandez consisting of a permanent
injunction against future violations of the antifraud and reporting
provisions of the securities laws, disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains
together with an accounting of his proceeds of his sales of Madera
common stock, civil monetary penalties, and an order permanently barring
him from serving as an officer or director of a public company. [SEC v.
Ramiro M. Fernandez-Moris, Daniel S. Lezak, and Ramiro Rafael (Ray)
Fernandez, 01 Civ. 1985, JR, D.D.C.] (LR-17916; AAE Rel. 1697) |
