Sniffex Inc. has a lot in common with companies named by the SEC in its two-year investigation of a Dallas-based "shell creation group," first reported last month by The Dallas Morning News.
The agency says in court documents that the group of lawyers, business consultants, stock brokers and investors may have been involved in a massive stock manipulation scheme involving junk faxes and spam e-mails.
Faxes touting Sniffex used the same format as those promoting Deep Rock Oil & Gas Inc. and National Storm Management Inc., two companies the agency examined after Hurricane Katrina. One Sniffex fax referred to price spikes in those two stocks as a reason investors should heed the tips.
Court documents filed by the SEC do not identify members of the "shell creation group," but lawyers, brokers and business consultants involved in Deep Rock and National Storm were also used by Sniffex, according to corporate records and court testimony.
Coppell accountant Mark Lindberg helped take Sniffex public, and one of his companies owned more than 3 million free-trading shares. Tulsa securities lawyer G. David Gordon was its corporate counsel at one time.
Plano-based Routh Stock Transfer Inc., run by Jason Freeman, is its transfer agent. Chasity Thompson of Kemp used to be president and served as a consultant. And some shares were traded at the same Dallas brokerage where customers also traded in Deep Rock and National Storm.
All have either declined to comment or said they had little involvement with Sniffex. Mr. Lindberg's attorney said his client sold his shares before the stock traded publicly and made no more than $50,000.
Sniffex chief executive Paul Johnson said those people have nothing to do with the company now.
"There's nothing that I know that they have done wrong," he said. "They helped me start it. They were great guys. They did what they said they were going to do, and I have an operating company that makes money."
"I have been a great businessman for many, many years in Dallas-Fort Worth," he added. "They need a CEO and I'm on the bench. They would call me and say, 'Do you need a job doing this?' I'm not a stock guy. I certainly don't have an expertise to do all the stuff the SEC alleges people are doing."
Trading records showing who profited from the rise and fall of Sniffex stock were not publicly available. |
