Nice find. Yes, it appears to be the same Joel Marcus from RMIL saga. I hope the SEC and FBI come down real hard and the RMIL BOD's and those greased brokers and others concerned!
RG
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edgar.sec.gov
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 15927 / October 5, 1998
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION V. FRIENDLY POWER CO., LLC, FRIENDLY POWER CO., INC., FRIENDLY POWER FRANCHISE CO., SCOTT J. LEVINE, SABRINA LEVINE, CYBER-TECH MARKETING & CONSULTING, INC., DWIGHT H. STEPHENS, PACKARD ENERGY GROUP, INC., AND RICH MANAGEMENT CORP., Case No. 98-1697-CIV-KING (S.D. Fla.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on Friday, July 17, 1998, the Honorable Donald M. Middlebrooks of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an order temporarily halting on-going sales of unregistered securities by three Florida based boiler-rooms and a group of Florida companies. On July 23 and 30, 1998, the Court entered orders of preliminary injunctions against all named defendants. The orders of preliminary injunction as to Friendly Power Company LLC, Friendly Power Company, Inc., and Friendly Power Franchise Company (collectively Friendly Power), Scott J. Levine, and Sabrina Levine, were entered upon their consent, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations. The remaining defendants did not oppose the entry of orders of preliminary injunction.
The Court acted on an emergency motion and complaint that the SEC filed on July 17, 1998, alleging that Friendly Power Company LLC, Friendly Power Company, Inc., and Friendly Power Franchise Company (collectively Friendly Power), a newly-formed group of companies run by Scott J. Levine and his wife, Sabrina Levine, of Plantation, Florida, which purported to sell electricity in California's recently restructured electrical market, sold unregistered securities to the public in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act). The SEC's complaint also alleges that Friendly Power used defendants Rich Management Corp. (Rich Management) of Miami, Florida, Packard Energy Corp. (Packard Energy) of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Cyber-Tech Marketing & Consulting, Inc. (Cyber-Tech) and its President, Dwight H. Stephens (Stephens), both of Longwood, Florida to sell its securities and that those defendants used high pressure tactics and illegal means to make those sales. According to the SEC's complaint, the boiler-rooms violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by making egregious misrepresentations to investors regarding, among other things, Friendly Power's risk, profitability, capitalization, the need to invest quickly and investors' returns.
The SEC's complaint also named Joel Marcus, Inc. (Marcus) and Rich Holdings, Inc. (Rich Holdings) as Relief Defendants. The SEC alleges that Marcus, who served as the purported escrow agent for the Friendly Power offering, and Rich Holdings, which is controlled by the same person who controlled Rich Management, received investor funds that the boiler-rooms had fraudulently raised.
According to the SEC's complaint, Friendly Power already had raised at least $4.2 million and intended to sell up to $70 million of unregistered securities. The SEC's complaint also alleges that many victims of the boiler-rooms' fraud are elderly and retired, and that about 25% of the investors used their retirement savings to invest in defendants' scheme. The preliminary injunctions enjoin defendants Friendly Power, Scott J. Levine, and Sabrina Levine from violating Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 77e(a) and 77e(c), and enjoin defendants Cyber-Tech, Stephens, Packard Energy, and Rich Management from violating Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 77e(a) and 77e(c), Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 77q(a)(1), 77q(a)(2), and 77q(a)(3), Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), 15 U.S.C. 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5, and Section 15(a)(1) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. 78o(a)(1). |
