U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
SEC Seal
Home | Previous Page
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 16447 / February 22, 2000

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CORPORATE RELATIONS GROUP, INC., STRATCOMM MEDIA LTD., GULF ATLANTIC PUBLISHING, INC., NEW CONCEPTS L.L.C., CJL CORPORATION, POW WOW, INC., FONDO DE ADQUISICIONES E INVERSIONES INTERNACIONALES XL, S.A., C.A. OPORTUNIDAD, S.A., AMMONIA HOLD, INC., ROBERTO E. VEITIA, JAMES W. SPRATT III, JAMES A. SKALKO, JACK RODRIGUEZ, JR., JOSE ANTONIO GOMEZ CORTES, ARNOLD ZOUSMER, CHARLES J. LIDMAN and MICHAEL PARNELL

Civil Action No. 99-1222-CV-22-A (M.D. Fla., Orlando) (filed September 27, 1999)

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced today that, on February 2, 2000, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered a Final Judgment against Jack Rodriguez, Jr., a.k.a. Jack R. Rodriguez ("Rodriguez"), a former employee of Corporate Relations Group, Inc. ("CRG") and a resident of Florida.

Without admitting or denying the Commission's allegations, Rodriguez consented to the entry of a judgment which permanently enjoins him from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and Sections 10(b) and 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The judgment also requires Rodriguez to pay disgorgement in the amount of $19,432.79, representing his gains from the conduct alleged in the Complaint together with prejudgment interest. However, in light of Rodriguez' demonstrated inability to pay, disgorgement of this amount has been waived and a civil money penalty was not sought.

The Commission alleged that, in late 1994 and early 1995, in connection with the promotion of one of CRG's issuer-clients, Rodriguez paid registered representatives to solicit their clients to purchase this issuer's stock. Rodriguez knew, or was reckless in not knowing, that he was part of CRG's overall fraudulent scheme concerning this stock. As a result, Rodriguez violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The Commission also charged that Rodriguez violated the registration provisions of the Securities Act and the broker-dealer registration requirement of the Exchange Act by selling unregistered shares of Stratcomm Media Ltd. common stock and collecting commissions based upon those sales.

The Commission's enforcement action, which alleged a variety of federal securities laws violations, including violations of the antifraud, antitouting and registration provisions, is still pending in the Middle District of Florida. See Litigation Release No. 16294 (September 27, 1999).

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16447.htm

Modified:02/24/2000