From today's SEC Digest:
FINAL CONSENT JUDGMENTS ENTERED AGAINST WELLNESS UNIVERSE CORPORATION, SYNPAN CORPORATION, AND GEORGE CHARLES PAPPAS
The Commission announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments by consent on March 17 against defendants, Wellness Universe Corporation (Wellness) and Synpan Corporation (Synpan), and their control person, defendant George Charles Pappas (Pappas) of New York, New York, in an action brought by the Commission to stop an ongoing pump and dump scheme perpetrated by the defendants in connection with the sale of Wellness stock.
The Commission's complaint alleged that, between approximately mid- December 1999 and mid-February 2000, Pappas caused Synpan and Wellness to issue a series of false or misleading press releases designed to inflate artificially the price of Wellness stock so that the defendants, through certain friends and family members of Pappas, could sell shares of Wellness stock to the public at artificially inflated prices.
Without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission's complaint, Wellness, Synpan, and Pappas have each consented to the entry of a Final Judgment permanently enjoining each from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, promulgated thereunder. In addition, the Final Judgment to which Pappas has consented requires Pappas to disgorge a total of $1,128,572.24 in ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, orders Pappas to pay a $75,000 civil penalty, and imposes on Pappas a penny stock bar and an officer and director bar. That Final Judgment also bars Pappas from ever again offering or selling unregistered securities professionally to investors. Specifically, it will permanently bar Pappas from participating in an unregistered offering "while acting as, on behalf of, or in association with, an issuer, underwriter, broker, or dealer."
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