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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockDung who wrote (84198)	5/22/2003 1:16:16 PM
From: mmmary	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

So Matt said he wrote the report even though geolo wrote it just so Matt could have the disclaimer stating that HE was never paid shares or money even though Goelo did? Very interesting. I've known all along that this is how scammers get around the disclosure regulations. They trade favors with other promoters so they don't have to disclose. Imagine, Matt working for goelo who was just sued by the SEC for fraud. That's some company you keep, kid. That's why he refuses to respond to any posts. Because he has no honest response.

To: StockDung who wrote (84198)	5/26/2003 2:56:36 PM
From: SEC-ond-chance	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

? So how are Criminal Investigations handled ? Criminal prosecutions of violations of the federal securities laws are handled by the offices of the United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division's Fraud Section of the United States Department of Justice (collectively the "Department of Justice"). The Department of Justice is usually assisted by investigative agencies such as the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It also will often receive the help of staff attorneys from the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")and self-regulatory organizations such as the National Association of Securities Dealers. On occasion, the Department of Justice itself will initiate an investigation of securities law violations. However, the Department of Justice typically will undertake such an investigation on the basis of a referral from the SEC. SEC regulations provide a formal procedure for referring criminal matters to the Department of Justice. Under this procedure, the Director of Enforcement "in collaboration with the General Counsel, reviews cases to be recommended to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution." Criminal cases are usually referred by the SEC through informal means. Under Rule 2 of the SEC's Rules Relating to Investigations, SEC staff members are permitted to discuss their investigations with prosecutors if they obtain appropriate supervisory approval Moreover, upon a showing of need and subject to the Commission's discretion, the Department of Justice may obtain access to investigative files of the SEC's Enforcement Division merely by submitting a request to the Enforcement Division. The SEC does not have formal guidelines for determining the circumstances under which it will make a criminal referral. There are, however, several factors which are often cited by the SEC when it makes public statements about its decision-making process concerning criminal referrals. At a panel discussion sponsored by the American Bar Association entitled "Criminalization of the Federal Securities Laws", the former SEC Southeast Regional Director described the issues which his office considers in determining whether to make a criminal referral. He listed the following issues: Egregiousness of the Alleged Misconduct Several issues are considered in evaluating the seriousness of an alleged violation. First, is whether the misconduct occurred on a single occasion, or on multiple occasions as part of a pattern of misconduct. Second, is the length of time that the misconduct took place. Third, is whether there were efforts made to conceal the substantive violation, such as the falsification of books and records or the public filing of fraudulent documents. Fourth, is the impact of the violation; i.e., the effect of the misconduct on shareholders, clients, the marketplace, or the subject entity. Last, but hardly least, is the position of the alleged violator. If the alleged offender held a high-level position with significant managerial or fiduciary responsibilities, this usually tends to weigh in favor of prosecution. Magnitude of Proof The SEC is always mindful that, unlike the lower standard of proof used in civil enforcement proceedings, the burden of proof in criminal prosecutions is "beyond a reasonable doubt." Recidivism If the subject of the investigation is a recidivist, there is a greater likelihood that a criminal referral will be made. Lying to the SEC Staff Lying to the Staff is not tolerated. The SEC will refer cases for criminal prosecution not only for substantive violations, but also for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. These cases can have a wide variety of factual bases, for example: lying under oath; intentionally withholding documents responsive to a subpoena; lying to the Staff during a telephone interview; and influencing others to lie to the SEC. ; Violations of this nature will practically guarantee a criminal referral. In sum, it appears that the number of cases referred for criminal prosecution by the SEC will continue to increase. As two experienced SEC enforcement practitioners noted: Handicapped by a limited number of personnel and a budget that hopelessly lags behind the growth of the stock market, the SEC is forced to regulate by deterrence, hawking its cases to the press in order to spread the word about the agency's work to the widest possible audience. Increasingly, however, the SEC has been using the specter of criminal prosecution as its most potent weapon in the war against securities fraud.