SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/23/2006 3:41:33 PM
From: StockDung  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 122087
 
PATCHIE, BRENT BAKER HAD 5 LAWYERS BOXES OF INFORMATION ON ZIASUN AND HAD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO PUT EVEN AL CAPONE AWAY.

THE SEC DID NOTHING ABOUT THE ZIASUN FRAUD.

SEC MAKES OWN JUDGEMENTS ON ENFORCEMENTS. NOT SHORT SELLERS.

THERE IS NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST BY BEING SHORT A STOCK AND GIVING RESEARCH TO SEC.

THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG.

OVERSTOCK IS WHERE IT IS BECAUSE OF LOONY CEO AND HORRID EARNINGS

NOT SHORT SELLING.



To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/24/2006 10:39:34 AM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 122087
 
IN THE MATTER OF :CONVERSION SOLUTIONS : ORDER OF SUSPENSION
HOLDINGS CORP. : OF TRADING

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Before the
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
October 24, 2006
____________________________________
IN THE MATTER OF :
CONVERSION SOLUTIONS : ORDER OF SUSPENSION
HOLDINGS CORP. : OF TRADING
:
File No. 500-1 :
____________________________________:
It appears to the Securities and Exchange Commission that there is a lack of
current and accurate information concerning the securities of Conversion Solutions
Holding Corp. (“Conversion”), a Delaware Corporation located in Kennesaw, Georgia,
which trades in the over-the-counter market under the symbol “CSHD”.
Questions have arisen regarding the accuracy and completeness of information
contained in Conversion’s press releases and public filings with the Commission
concerning, among other things, (1) the company’s purported ownership and control of
two bond issuances, in the face amount of €5 billion and $500 million, issued by the
Republic of Venezuela, and (2) the company’s purported contractual relationship with
Deutsche Bank.
The Commission is of the opinion that the public interest and the protection of
investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above-listed company.
Therefore, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, that trading in the above-listed company is suspended for the
period from 9:30 a.m. EDT, October 24, 2006, through 11:59 p.m. EST, on November 6,
2006.
By the Commission.
Nancy M. Morris
Secretary



To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/24/2006 8:41:23 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 122087
 
Conversion Solutions temporarily suspended by the SEC

2006-10-24 19:23 ET - Street Wire

by Lee M. Webb

Conversion Solutions Holdings Corp., a penniless OTC Bulletin Board promotion headed by semi-literate chief executive officer Rufus Paul Harris, has drawn a 10-day trading suspension from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Among other things, the U.S. regulator has questions about the company's purported ownership of approximately $6.78-billion worth of bonds issued by the Republic of Venezuela. (All amounts are in U.S. dollars.)

According to the SEC, questions have also arisen about Conversion's purported contractual relationship with Deutsche Bank, which was announced in a Sept. 27 news release.

"The Commission is of the opinion that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above-listed company," the SEC notes in its Oct. 24 order.

While Canadian regulators can suspend trading in a security indefinitely, SEC trading suspensions automatically expire after 10 days. The SEC's Oct. 24 order of trading suspension against Conversion will expire at midnight on Nov. 6.

The bonds

As previously reported by Stockwatch, Conversion is the recent offspring of a union between a virtually penniless grey sheet outfit with a similar name, Conversion Solutions Inc. (CVSU), and The FrontHaul Group Inc., a cash-strapped OTC-BB company.

The merger, announced in July, was reportedly consummated on Sept. 13.

Notwithstanding its pauperish roots and virtually cashless condition, Conversion claimed to have an asset portfolio of approximately $7.3-billion and an estimated book value of $70.71 per share as of Oct. 16.

The bulk of Conversion's purported $7.3-billion asset portfolio reportedly consists of bonds.

Indeed, even before the merger with financially challenged FrontHaul, Georgia-headquartered Conversion's grey sheet precursor, CVSU, was touting its rather surprising bond assets.

In an April 27 news release, CVSU reported that as a result of "a Global Funding agreement with Ismet Paez of The Caracas Group," it had added a $500-million Republic of Venezuela bond to its portfolio.

Neither Ismet Paez nor The Caracas Group are household names, even among seasoned investors. Indeed, they are remarkably obscure.

The promotion ramped up after the announcement of the proposed merger with FrontHaul and penniless Conversion's ballyhooed bond portfolio purportedly grew by leaps and bounds.

On Aug. 18, Conversion announced that under another touted global funding agreement, this one with an outfit called the Humanitarian & Scientific World Foundation Ltd., it had acquired a euro-denominated Lehman Brothers Holdings PLC bond with a converted value of approximately $579-million.

"With the addition of this Asset to the corporation, we are now looking at a new justifiable reorganization release price of $25.63, up $10.63 from the original estimated $15.00 per share ($12.81 Book X 2)," Mr. Harris proclaimed in the Aug. 18 news release.

Investors, particularly members of Conversion's gullible cult-like Internet following, were still marvelling at that reported acquisition when the company added to its purported stash of bonds just five days later.

On Aug. 23, Conversion announced that, in another deal with the Humanitarian & Scientific World Foundation, it had acquired a euro-denominated bond on the Republic of Finland with a converted value of approximately $939-million.

It was more than a month before Conversion wowed investors with another purported bond acquisition, but what an acquisition it was.

On Sept. 27, Mr. Harris's cash-strapped OTC-BB promotion reported that it had acquired another Republic of Venezuela bond, this one purportedly a euro-denominated bond with a fantastic converted value of approximately $6.28-billion.

Oddly, when Conversion issued its fluffy Oct. 16 announcement touting $7.3-billlion in assets and a book value of $70.71 per share, the company made no mention of the purported euro-denominated Venezuelan bond. Instead, Conversion touted a $5-billion contract expansion with the obscure Caracas Group.

In any event, the SEC may well have a number of questions "regarding the accuracy and completeness of information contained in Conversion's press releases and public filings" beyond those relating to the two Venezuelan bonds specifically mentioned in the regulator's Oct. 24 trading suspension order.

The banking platform

In its Oct. 24 suspension order, the U.S. regulator also specifically mentioned Conversion's purported contractual relationship with Deutsche Bank, rendered as "Deutche Bank" in a company news release.

In a separate Sept. 27 news release following the same-day announcement of the purported acquisition of the $6.28-billion Venezuelan bond, Conversion claimed to have contracts with a number of banks relating to some vague "banking platform" for its "Global, Sovereign and Institutional Investors."

"The corporation has obtained contracts from the following banks Deutche (sic) Bank, ABN Amro Bank, Dresdner Bank and Kommerce Bank," the company sloppily reported. "The mentioned banks will be the foundation for our project funding platform."

It is far from clear just what Conversion means by a "banking platform" or, for that matter, a "project funding platform," but that seems to have been lost on the company's semi-literate leader.

"This announcement is the first of explanations on CSHD's operations, which will help most investors to understand our business model and activities," Mr. Harris declared in the Sept. 27 news release, which explained nothing at all.

In any case, perhaps the SEC will obtain an explanation about the vaunted "banking platform" or "project funding platform" during the course of asking Conversion to satisfy concerns about the company's purported relationship with Deutsche Bank.

The cult

The reaction to the SEC's 10-day suspension of Conversion has been somewhat mixed among the company's cult-like Internet following, including cheerleading members of the critically characterized "tree-house club" who congregate on a chat site called HotStockMarket.com.

While concern over the suspension has been expressed by some of the company's followers, other devoted fans suggest that nasty short sellers are responsible for Conversion's current woes.

Among other things, some claim that the suspension is the result of collusion between the SEC and short sellers.

In a different flight of fancy, some particularly gullible members of the company's cult-like following claim that the trading suspension is a masterful stroke of genius orchestrated by Mr. Harris as part of his plan to trap short sellers and propel Conversion's share price to astronomical levels.

Carrying the fantasy even further, some naive cheerleaders suggest that the SEC will give its stamp of approval to Conversion and, following the suspension, the company will open for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market where it will rocket to $100 per share or more.

The reality, of course, will be quite different.

Indeed, if Conversion follows the normal course of suspended OTC-BB companies, it will be booted down to the pink sheets and change hands only in unsolicited trades. In other words, the company will be headed back to its grey market beginning.

The critics

While Conversion's cult-like followers fantasize, some of the company's critics wonder why it took the SEC so long to take any action.

Among other things, some Internet critics claim that they raised questions about the promotion and the company's ballyhooed bond acquisitions from the outset and forwarded their concerns to the SEC.

Critics also point to deficiencies in Mr. Harris's creative cut-and-paste annual report that was belatedly filed on Oct. 16, claiming that the SEC should have stepped in then, at the very latest.

Indeed, according to some critics, the laughable OTC-BB promotion should have been suspended long ago and the suspension followed up with an administrative proceeding against the company.

It remains to be seen whether the SEC does initiate an administrative proceeding against the company.

The Georgia documents

Meanwhile, some of Conversion's devoted followers continue to insist that the company does indeed have billions of dollars worth of bonds. The proof and answers to many concerns, they claim, can be found in court documents filed in Georgia.

In fact, Conversion has filed hundreds of pages of documents in a small Georgia state court in Cartersville in Bartow county, though it is far from clear that those documents will allay the SEC's concerns.

In any event, court staff in Cartersville are certainly familiar with the Conversion filings.

Among other things, court clerk Gary Bell apparently found it somewhat peculiar that Conversion insisted that the documents, which include lengthy merger and joint venture agreements as well as global funding agreements, be filed in the real estate index.

Mr. Bell also recalls that he had to chase the company to make good on the filing fee.

Stockwatch will review Conversion's Georgia court documents and provide some further background on the OTC-BB promotion's precursors in future articles.

Conversion last traded on Oct. 23 when approximately 674,000 shares changed hands and the stock closed at $1.99.

Stockwatch will continue to follow developments.

Comments regarding this article may be sent to lwebb@stockwatch.com.

(More information regarding Conversion Solutions Holdings Corp. is available in Stockwatch articles published on Oct. 13, 16, 18 and 20, 2006.)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reader Comments - Comments are open and unmoderated, although libelous remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Stockwatch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

look at that TERX.

Posted by white rock pump @ 2006-10-24 16:53

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee licks camel balls

Posted by THE TRUTH @ 2006-10-24 16:59

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee gives out BJ's for Busfair, then walks home.

Posted by Roheex @ 2006-10-24 17:06

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Add a new comment

Name (required)

Email (optional)

Homepage (optional)

Note: this information will be made public along with your comment


Comments:




To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/24/2006 10:41:54 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 122087
 
U.S. Launches Probes Into Fraud Cases
By JOSH FUNK 10.24.06, 6:08 PM ET


U.S. Launches Probes Into Fraud Cases
By JOSH FUNK 10.24.06, 6:08 PM ET

The government has launched investigations into fraud cases in which computer hackers apparently manipulated client accounts at two of the nation's largest electronic brokerages, stealing millions of dollars.

Officials at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (nasdaq: AMTD - news - people ) said Tuesday that the fraud cost the company about $4 million in the July-September quarter. Last week, E-Trade Financial Corp. said the company lost about $18 million in a similar scheme during its third quarter.

Both companies reimbursed customers for their losses.

Ameritrade's chief operating officer, Randy MacDonald, said the fraud that his company experienced during the quarter was part of an industrywide problem and that the company was working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Ameritrade officials said the problem largely occurred overseas when clients were using either wireless networks or public computers infected with spyware, and user IDs and passwords were stolen.

"We're spending a lot of time educating our clients about the need to keep their information secure," MacDonald said. "And we're working with software vendors to develop new techniques for preventing this from even happening at their keyboard level."

Officials at Omaha-based Ameritrade and E-Trade, which is headquartered in New York, said that while hackers manipulated individual accounts, their own computer systems remained secure.

E-Trade Chief Executive Mitchell Caplan told analysts during a conference call last week that the fraud his company saw appeared to be concentrated in eastern Europe and Thailand, according to a transcript provided by Thomson Financial's StreetEvents.

"We believe that we've made a significant number of operational changes and technology changes," Caplan said during the call. "We've seen that level of fraud in the last three weeks or so reduced to almost zero as a result of the changes we're making."

Both E-Trade and Ameritrade have insurance that may cover some of their fraud losses. They reimbursed their clients because both companies offer their clients asset protection guarantees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, like the FBI, is investigating hacking fraud throughout the online brokerage industry.

SEC spokesman John Heine in Washington declined comment Tuesday on the Ameritrade and E-Trade cases.

Officials of the SEC and other law enforcement agencies, along with representatives of online brokerage firms, were meeting Wednesday to discuss the issue, said John Reed Stark, head of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement.

"We've seen an increase in the number of intrusions," Stark said. "These innovative frauds often involve an intricate web of participants that are not only committing securities fraud but are also committing identity theft and hacking as well."

Ameritrade's chief executive, Joe Moglia, said he thinks this latest rash of fraud and identity theft is under control, but it's a problem the industry and society will always have to contend with.

"From the beginning of time, there's always been someone trying to take advantage of someone else," Moglia said.

Associated Press Writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this report from Washington D.C.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed



To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/25/2006 1:57:31 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 122087
 
WOW PATCHIE, HACKER ARE REALLY SCARY STUFF. THEY COULD BE OPENING A ACCOUNT IN YOUR NAME AT ANOTHER BROKERAGE AND DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN ACCORDING TO THIS BLOGG. SINCE IDENTITY THEFT IS NEVER PRETTY I WOULD ALSO ALERT ANY CREDIT CARD COMPANIES AND MAKE THEM AWARE AS TO WHAT HAPPENED. YOU MIGHT ALSO SIGN UP FOR A ALERT WITH A CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY SUCH AS EQUIFAX, TRANSUNION OR EQUIFAX. THIS WAY YOU WILL KNOW RIGHT AWAY WHEN ANY INQUIRY HITS YOUR CREDIT REPORT. HAVE NOT SEEN ONE ARTICLE ABOUT THE HACKERS THAT TALK ABOUT CREDIT CARD AND SINCE THEY HAVE YOUR SS NUMBER IT COULD BE THE NEXT THING ORGANIZED CRIME TRIES

"There are actually two types of fraud they are seeing. One is a classic "pump and dump," where hackers are opening an account in someone else's name and using it for illegal trading to pump up a stock. The person whose name was used for the account looks like the one responsible for the crime. Was the information used to open the account initially obtained by infiltrating an account at another online broker? No one knows for sure yet how it's done. The second type of fraud is straight theft, where hackers use personal information such as social security numbers to break into accounts. Once they have control, they sell securities and then wire the proceeds outside the U.S."

Are your online accounts safe?
Posted Oct 25th 2006 11:35AM by Lita Epstein

As Tom Taulli wrote earlier today, the number of accounts being infiltrated by computer hackers in Eastern Europe and Asia continues to rise, and your accounts at an online brokerage firm may be at risk. While E*Trade, TD Ameritrade, Schwab and Fidelity have promised to reimburse customers who lose money in their accounts due to fraud, the problem continues to grow. Who knows what the thieves will do with the information once they've gotten it by infiltrating your account.

E*Trade reported on a conference call last week that it spent $18 million in the third quarter to compensate customers affected by trading fraud, according to a report from Bloomberg. TD Ameritrade also admitted to loses, but gave no numbers. We may get more details when it reports its numbers, expected later today. Charles Schwab told Bloomberg that it didn't see "anything unusual enough to warrant a financial disclosure." Well, if I were a Schwab customer and my account were infiltrated, I certainly would consider it important enough for disclosure. I hope Schwab is being more candid with its customers. Fidelity did not comment on Bloomberg's story.

Bloomberg also reported that the FBI, the SEC and the NASD are trying to unravel exactly what is happening and how its being done. There are actually two types of fraud they are seeing. One is a classic "pump and dump," where hackers are opening an account in someone else's name and using it for illegal trading to pump up a stock. The person whose name was used for the account looks like the one responsible for the crime. Was the information used to open the account initially obtained by infiltrating an account at another online broker? No one knows for sure yet how it's done. The second type of fraud is straight theft, where hackers use personal information such as social security numbers to break into accounts. Once they have control, they sell securities and then wire the proceeds outside the U.S.

Javelin Strategy and Research of Pleasanton, California, estimates that identify theft will cost Americans $56.6 billion this year, according to Bloomberg. That doesn't even begin to account for the time it takes to clean up the mess after you've been a victim of identity theft. It can take years and hundreds of hours to get your financial history back on track. Good information about how to prevent identity theft and what to do if you are a victim is available from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read
Read
ReadPermalinkEmail thisLinking BlogsComments [1]
Recent Posts
Analyst upgrades 10-25-06: UBS upgrades Qwest to Buy

Analyst downgrades 10-25-06: Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and the list goes on

Yahoo! wants to help you organize web bookmarks

Analyst initiations 10-25-06: CheckFree initiated with Market Perform

Network Solutions: My online customer service nightmare

Reader Comments
(Page 1)
1. Now, this is where the rubber hits the road.

Is anyone aware that even the largest computer security firms are not safe from the attacks of brilliant computer hackers? You, your computer and your accounts are at such risk right now that if you really knew the truth, you'd probably sever all connections from your personal information to the internet... right now.

I cite an article in the October issue of Popular Science:

"The CEO of... Blue Security created a method of flooding junk emailers... with opt out requests- essentially spamming the spammers. Within a few months... six of the worlds largest junk emailers had agreed to stop spamming his customers.
Then this last may, a Russian spammer known as PharmaMaster fought back. Using a botnet he launched... a distributed denial of service, or DDOS attack... it overwhelms the servers that host the site and shuts it down... And PharmaMaster didn't stop there. He took down Blue Security's blog service, it's ISP, and the security firm hired to repel the original attack. Then he sent Blue Security's customers emails infected with a virus. After two weeks of relentless attacks, Blue Security just gave up."

(My thanks to author Dan Tynan and Popular Science Magazine.)

Now, the above referenced situation does not address the issue of actual financial account entry, but it does serve to enlighten us to the ease with which a brilliant covert operation can cause unlimited misery. You are not protected... yet. There are some good people working on possible solutions but most of them are years from being anything substantial. Most of the efforts are focused on personal PC security. What about the internet? That's the place where the most damage can be done.

Consider an online auction site named eBay. With 200 million registered users (an inflated number of course), how easy would it be for an organized effort to siphon millions of dollars from our country in a matter of moments? I dare say folks, the ground work is being laid right as I type this.

Ebay's Paypal division just recently issued invitation to it's account holders to open a multi user portal... ON PAYPAL'S END. If you can't see that as a financial holocaust in the making, well, then you'd better spend a moment of your time considering the realities of it. Most every account holder using Paypal has an alternate source of funds option activated. What this does is allows Paypal's account system to enter your chosen bank account to withdraw funds for payment just in case your Paypal account is too low to pay for your purchase. Couple that with the possible alternate funding options that you have selected for your bank to exercise and you have a pathway into your entire account system.

The many unsuspecting individuals who innocently adopt or unwittingly have otherwise activated that multiuser portal with Paypal have much to be concerned about. How easy will it be for a fake account proxy to be initiated? Too easy I'll hazard to say. I know a setup when I see one. I've schooled long and hard on the concepts of fraud. The Paypal account system is being prepared for mass withdrawls.

God I hope I'm wrong.

Will somebody PLEASE have the DOJ look into this?

.

Posted at 1:08PM on Oct 25th 2006 by Gary E. Sattler 0 stars

Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry: inappropriate or purely promotional comments may be removed. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted ? no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

By leaving a comment on this site, you indicate that you agree to the Terms of Use.

Your name (required):

Your email address (required, will not be shown to the public):

Your site?s URL (optional):

Do you want us to remember your personal information for next time?
Yes No

Add your comments:



To: Patchie who wrote (96225)10/31/2006 9:47:32 AM
From: Clase Azul  Respond to of 122087
 
a short was wrong? None of the stocks you mentioned were overvalued?? My god man, do they have to be a certified pump n dump for you to be ok with shorting? You've lost it Patch