JULY 14 2000 DODI HANDY noted, “John Manion has been a mentor to many of us. We will miss his contributions, not just to our business, but to our lives. His proven leadership and corporate vision have served as the cornerstones on which Continental Capital has been built and upon which all future successes will be founded. Moving forward, we intend to initiate an aggressive growth strategy focused on strategic joint venture partners and prospective merger/acquisition candidates. Our goal is to distinguish Continental Capital as a global entity responsible for establishing the standard by which all financial public relations companies are measured.”
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Legend accused of mob ties Russian, Italian crime figures linked by feds to defunct firm's stock deals.
June 25, 1999
Alan Byrd Staff Writer
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS -- Just when it looked like defunct golf concern Legend Sports Inc. would fade away amid a flurry of stock fraud allegations, along comes the Russian mafia.
In a stunning, one-of-a-kind sweep this month, the U.S. Justice Department slammed stock brokers and others with 89 indictments, alleging mob interests -- both homegrown and in Russia -- had helped defraud investors of more than $100 million.
Squarely in the center of the legal storm: Legend Sports, its Altamonte Springs founder and an Apopka financier.
At first glance, the new federal indictments appear to have little to do with Legend, which has its own legal troubles.
The fledgling golf range company was shuttered last year after a three-year investigation by state authorities found it had fraudulently sold millions of dollars in securities to mostly elderly investors.
Indeed, in the federal indictments, the company and one other local concern, Orlando Supercard, look like victims of a more sophisticated stock scam: Brokers linked to organized crime artificially inflated stock prices of the companies, and then took hefty commissions based on sales at the higher prices.
However, the common denominator in both cases is former Legend Sports CEO Jim Staples. Staples already has cut a plea agreement with state prosecutors.
Sources close to the investigations say Staples escaped being named in the recent federal indictments only because he also agreed to cooperate with federal authorities about his role, and the role of Legend, in the alleged mob scam.
His attorney, David Fussell of Horwitz & Fussell of Orlando, will neither confirm nor deny that Staples is cooperating with federal authorities, saying only that, "Mr. Staples has come to the conclusion that he had conducted himself in an improper and illegal manner, and once he had reached that decision, he believed he had an obligation to rectify the situation."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Notopoulos, who is handling the federal prosecution, would not comment on whether Staples had entered a plea agreement with federal authorities.
However, it is known that Staples had met with John Manion of Apopka. Manion reportedly stated he had associates in New York who could bolster -- even control -- the struggling public company's stock price.
Manion is among those named in the 15-page federal indictment; specifically for his involvement with Legend Sports.
According to the indictment, Manion, along with members of the Colombo crime family and Russian organized crime, came to control virtually all of the tradeable stock of Legend and two other publicly traded companies.
That allowed them to artificially inflate the price of Legend's stock. Once the stock price began rising, a small army of unregistered brokers and cold callers began aggressively selling the stock at its new, high price to unwary investors.
No longer supported by brokers touting its strengths, and battered by the sudden sell-off, the stock price plummeted, leaving the new investors holding near-worthless paper.
But by then, fat commissions had enabled the boiler room operations to shave profits: The stock of Legend and the two other companies alone netted the group an estimated $10 million in profits.
Manion, who has an unlisted phone number, could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, in Knoxville, Staples remains free on bond, as he helps state and federal authorities locate the remaining assets of Legend Sports.
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July 14, 2000 "Dodi Handy noted, “John Manion has been a mentor to many of us. We will miss his contributions, not just to our business, but to our lives. His proven leadership and corporate vision have served as the cornerstones on which Continental Capital has been built and upon which all future successes will be founded. Moving forward, we intend to initiate an aggressive growth strategy focused on strategic joint venture partners and prospective merger/acquisition candidates. Our goal is to distinguish Continental Capital as a global entity responsible for establishing the standard by which all financial public relations companies are measured.”
CONTINENTAL CAPITAL & EQUITY CORPORATION
ANNOUNCES MANAGEMENT BUYOUT
Longwood, Fl – (BUSINESSWIRE) – July 14, 2000 – Continental Capital & Equity Corporation, a nationally recognized, full service financial public relations firm, today announced that the employees of the Company, led by the Executive Management Committee, are in the final stages of a planned buyout of Mr. John R. Manion, Founder and President of Continental Capital. In consideration of the buyout, Mr. Manion announced his resignation from the Company effective immediately. Employees of Continental are expected to complete a buyout of Mr. Manion prior to the end of July. Nearly 100% of Continental’s personnel have signed letters of intent to purchase shares of the Company.
In a letter to Continental Capital’s Executive Management Committee, Mr. Manion stated, “Since opening our doors in 1992, I have sought to distinguish Continental Capital as an industry innovator and as an organization responsible for redefining how investor relations is delivered. I believe that mission has been accomplished. Continental is a dynamic, results-oriented enterprise which has earned the respect and acknowledgement of our clients, our industry peers, Wall Street and the financial community, in general.”
Mr. Manion also stated, “Continental Capital is now uniquely positioned to leverage its fundamental successes into new and exciting growth opportunities that our Management Committee is more suited to oversee. As such, I am stepping aside so that the Continental team can aggressively steer the Company into a new era of corporate evolution.”
For the past 19 months and in contemplation of the planned buyout, Continental Capital has been managed by its Executive Management Committee, led by Chief Operating Officer Dodi B. (Zirkle) Handy, Chief Financial Officer and General Manager James R. Schnorf, and Vice Presidents Scott Gibson and Jimmy Holton. Audited financials of the Company reflect that under the reign of the Executive Management Committee, Continental Capital achieved 1999 revenue of nearly $9.5 million, representing a 40% increase over revenues generated in 1998. Profits increased nearly 50% to over $3 million. Currently, Continental Capital is on track to achieve similar growth in revenues and profitability in 2000.
Dodi Handy noted, “John Manion has been a mentor to many of us. We will miss his contributions, not just to our business, but to our lives. His proven leadership and corporate vision have served as the cornerstones on which Continental Capital has been built and upon which all future successes will be founded. Moving forward, we intend to initiate an aggressive growth strategy focused on strategic joint venture partners and prospective merger/acquisition candidates. Our goal is to distinguish Continental Capital as a global entity responsible for establishing the standard by which all financial public relations companies are measured.”
About Continental Capital & Equity Corporation
Continental Capital & Equity Corporation is a leading, nationally recognized, financial public relations firm that specializes in increasing mass market awareness of its clients among individual investors, retail stockbrokers, institutional investors, analysts, the financial media and other investment professionals.
- more -
Through its publication, Inside Wall Street, and its web site, www.insidewallstreet.com, Continental concentrates on spotlighting undervalued, undiscovered or turnaround situations operating in emerging, high-growth industries. Since its founding in 1992, Continental has represented hundreds of public companies headquartered on six continents. Current clients include, but are not limited to, Ashton Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:ASTN); NetCurrents, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTCS); Ursus Telecom Corporation (Nasdaq/NM:UTCC); BitWise Designs, Inc. (Nasdaq:BTWS); THCG, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:THCG); New Visual Entertainments, Inc. (OTCBB:NVEI); IFS International, Inc. (Nasdaq:IFSH); and Viragen, Inc. (AMEX:VRA).
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Dodi B. Handy
407-682-2001
dodi@insidewallstreet.com
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Sept. 24 2000 Continental Capital's Manion Sentenced to 15 Months for Fraud
By David Evans
New York, Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- John Manion, owner of Continental Capital & Equity Corp., a Florida-based financial public relations company, received a 15-month federal prison sentence and a $100,000 fine for cheating investors of a client company, Legend Sports Inc., between 1995 and 1998.
Manion was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, by Judge Nina Gershon. Manion, 52, of Longwood, Florida, still faces criminal charges in Florida in connection with the Legend Sports fraud. His attorney, Sean O'Shea, didn't return telephone calls seeking comment.
Manion founded Continental in 1992. Some publicly traded companies, like Legend Sports, paid Continental to write and distribute favorable articles about them to investors on its Web site, www.insidewallstreet.com, and in newsletters with the same name. Continental says its 1999 profits exceeded $3 million.
Legend Sports, which developed and operated golf facilities in Central Florida, raised $18 million from investors between from 1994 to 1996. The Securities and Exchange Commission halted trading in the shares after alleging the company operated as a Ponzi scheme, using money from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors.
On July 21, Manion settled unrelated insider trading charges filed by the SEC by agreeing to pay $40,186 and not commit securities fraud in the future. He didn't admit wrongdoing in that case, in which he was accused of illegally trading shares of Bio- Dental Technologies Corp. before it was acquired by his client Zila Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1997.
In 1996, Manion and Continental settled SEC fraud charges relating to their public relations work for First Entertainment Corp., a movie producer, in 1992 and 1993. Neither Manion nor Continental admitted wrongdoing.
The SEC alleged that Continental distributed 400,000 copies of its 'Inside Wall Street' newsletter touting First Entertainment's stock without disclosing that Continental was paid in shares worth more than $700,000 to write the reports. Manion and Continental agreed not to commit securities fraud in the future.
When Manion resigned as president of Continental on July 14, the company said he would sell Continental to its employees within two weeks. Manion still owns Continental, said Dodi Handy, chief operating officer, in an interview Friday. Dodi said she expects the sale to be completed over the next 30 days.
Continental filed a registration statement with the SEC to sell one-third of the company to the public in 1998 for $14 million, shortly before Manion was charged with criminal securities fraud in Brooklyn. It never completed its initial public offering.
Continental has more than 30 corporate clients, including New Visual Entertainment Inc., Creative Host Inc. of San Diego, and Clearworks.net Inc., a fiber-optic network operator based in Houston
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