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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: RockyBalboa who wrote (11111)2/19/2003 5:02:08 PM
From: StockDung  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 19428
 
So how does this go -- you raise $5.1m from victims, albeit greedy stupid ones, and the SEC makes you give back $50k --- ooooh! 

 

COMMISSION SETTLES WITH DEFENDANTS IN "FLYING CAR" SCHEME

On Feb. 12, the Commission filed a civil fraud action against Paul S.
Moller (Moller) and Moller International, Inc. (Moller International) in
connection with a fraudulent unregistered stock offering and the filing
of a fraudulent registration statement with the Commission.

The Commission's complaint alleges Moller International, a California
company, and Moller began selling the unregistered shares of stock
directly to the public via the Internet raising approximately $5.1
million from more than 500 investors nationwide. The company was
supposedly engaged in the development of a revolutionary personal
aircraft, dubbed "the Skycar" that would allow a person to travel at
speeds over 400 miles-per-hour above roadways for about the same price
as a luxury automobile. Moller, age 64, the company's founder, chief
executive office and president, made false and misleading statements
about the company's imminent listing on the NYSE and the Nasdaq Stock
Market, the projected value of company shares after such listing, and
the prospect for Skycar sales and revenue. The company also filed a
fraudulent registration statement with the Commission that exaggerated
the true scope of patents the company held for the Skycar.

In its complaint, the Commission alleged that the defendants violated
the antifraud and the registration provisions of the federal securities
laws. Simultaneously with the filing of its action, the Commission
announced that each of the Defendants had agreed to a settlement in
which they consented to the entry of a permanent injunction and Moller
agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $50,000. [SEC v. Moller
International, Inc. and Paul S. Moller, Defendants, USDC, Eastern
District of California, Sacramento Division, Civil Action No. 2:03-CV-
261 (WBS) DAD] (LR-17987)



To: RockyBalboa who wrote (11111)2/19/2003 5:59:40 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 19428
 
moller.com



To: RockyBalboa who wrote (11111)2/19/2003 6:02:44 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 19428
 
Man settles charges with SEC over "Skycar" company

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Securities regulators have filed charges against a California man and his company, alleging they raised $5 million from claims the company was developing a hovering "Skycar" that allowed people to travel above roads at more than 400 miles an hour.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Paul Moller and his company, Moller International, had agreed to a settlement that did not admit or deny the charges. Moller is to pay a $50,000 penalty.

"If this car can be developed and makes business sense that's fine," said Harold Degenhardt, head of the SEC's Ft. Worth office. "All the commission asks is that when one is raising money through securities it is done with full disclosure."

"We don't take a position on the technology, we just want the investor to have the full information," he told Reuters.

The SEC alleged the company and Moller, a university professor and inventor, from 1997 until 2001 raised money from more than 500 people across the country by making "false and misleading statements" about the company's prospects, projected share value and imminent listings on the Nasdaq and New York Stock Market Exchanges.

At one point Moller predicted the company would have success similar to that of Microsoft, the SEC said, adding the company's promotional material also contained materially false and misleading information.

The Skycar would allow "any person to travel at speeds of more than 400 miles per hour in the uncluttered airspace above the roadways for about the same price as a luxury automobile," the SEC said in its complaint, and Moller projected 10,000 Skycars would be sold by the end of 2002.

The company hasn't sold a single car, the SEC said, adding the product "was and still is a very early developmental-stage prototype that has no meaningful flight testing, proof of aeronautical feasibility, or proven commercial viability".

Calls to Moller International for comment were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Sacramento, California, last week and publicly released by the SEC on Wednesday.

02/19/03 17:21 ET