More details on the scam->SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CHARGES 13 INDIVIDUALS AND DALLAS BROKER- DEALER WITH SCHEME TO MANIPULATE STOCK OF FREEDOM SURF, INC. On September 30, 2002, the Commission filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the District of Utah alleging a scheme, from July 2000 through November 2000, to manipulate the public trading market for stock issued by Freedom Surf, Inc., a Nevada corporation then headquartered in Huntington Beach, California. The complaint alleges that Mervyn A. Phelan, Sr. of Laguna Beach, California, currently Chairman and CEO of Senior Care Industries, now known as U.S. West Homes, located in Laguna Beach, California, along with co-defendants Bo Phelan and Craig Brown, sent 345,000 shares of Freedom Surf stock at no cost to Allen Z. Wolfson, a resident of Salt Lake City, who is currently under indictment for unrelated criminal conspiracy and securities fraud charges. The SEC's simultaneous administrative action, which is stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial, alleges that Wolfson controlled a substantial portion of the free-trading securities for five public companies; caused trades to be executed to give the appearance of demand for the stock; and paid bribes to brokers for causing their retail customers to purchase the securities. See In the Matter of Allen Z. Wolfson, et al., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 42940, June 14, 2000.
The current complaint further alleges that Wolfson directed brokers Kevin Kirkpatrick of Salt Lake City and Robert Pozner of Hackensack, New Jersey, to artificially bid up the price of Freedom Surf stock from $5 to $40 in approximately two months. Wolfson and his son David Wolfson also directed Kirkpatrick to effect manipulative trades between Wolfson- controlled accounts in the U.S., and accounts in Canada controlled by Wolfson associate and co-defendant John Chapman. The complaint further alleges that on October 24, 2000, when the stock price was at or near its height, and pursuant to a pre-existing arrangement with defendants Angelo Paul Koupas and Kyle Rowe, principals of defendant Salomon Grey, a Dallas broker-dealer, Wolfson sold 25,000 Freedom Surf shares Salomon Grey at a 50% discount from the current "market price," or for $6.125 per share. Salomon Grey sold over 27,000 shares of Freedom Surf to retail customer accounts, including over 17,000 shares at excessive markups of over 100 percent.
In the complaint, the Commission seeks injunctions against all defendants, and alleges, against various defendants, violations of Sections 5(a) and (c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15 (c)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 15c1-2 thereunder. The Commission also seeks to order an accounting, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, civil money penalties, and, against certain defendants, officer and director and penny stock bars. [SEC v. Allen Z. Wolfson, et al., Civil Action No. 2:02CV-1086 TC, USDC D. Utah] (LR-17755) |