U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 18584 / February 20, 2004

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Leon Levy, et al., Civil Action No. 3-04-CV-0351-N, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas Division).

SEC FILES EMERGENCY CIVIL ACTION AND OBTAINS ASSET FREEZE AGAINST ALLEGED INSIDE TRADERS

On February 19, 2004, the Commission filed an emergency action in United States district court in Dallas against six residents of Panama - Leon Levy, Yanni Abecassis, Ilan Sabbah, Henry Levy (aka Henry Levy Sakhai), Hertsel Levy, and Jacqueline Levy - charging that the defendants earned, in total, about $580,000 by purchasing stock of iDial Networks, Inc. (OTCBB:IDNW) while they were aware of material nonpublic information concerning iDial's August 23, 2003 merger with GlobalNet, Inc. The Commission simultaneously filed in the civil action, and the court granted, a motion seeking an asset freeze and other emergency relief against the six defendants and a single relief defendant - Atlantic 1 Corp. - in order to prevent the dissipation or concealment of assets that the Commission claims should be paid as civil money penalties and disgorgement of illegal profits.

In its complaint, the Commission alleged that, on August 4, 2003, defendants Yanni Abecassis and Leon Levy were present, as consultants to iDial, at iDial-GlobalNet merger negotiations in Panama, where they received material nonpublic information about the merger, as well as instructions from iDial's CEO to keep the information confidential. iDial is a Nevada corporation based in The Woodlands, Texas, and GlobalNet, a Nevada corporation, was, prior to the merger, a subsidiary of San Diego based Titan Corp. (NYSE:TTN); both companies were in the telecommunications business. The Commission alleged that Leon Levy, who was obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the merger negotiations, opened a brokerage account with an Irving, Texas based broker-dealer on August 7, 2003, and thereafter purchased 12,500,000 shares of iDial on the basis of the material nonpublic information that he received from iDial, prior to the public announcement of the merger on August 27, 2003. The Commission further alleged that, in early August 2003, Leon Levy and Abecassis, who was also obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the merger negotiations, improperly tipped defendant Ilan Sabbah about the impending merger, and, on the basis of that illegal tip, on August 8, 2003 Sabbah opened a brokerage account with the same Irving, Texas based broker-dealer through which Leon Levy traded, and thereafter purchased 12,050,000 shares of iDial before the public announcement of the merger. Finally, the Commission alleged that, early in August 2003, Leon Levy also tipped three other residents of Panama - Henry Levy, Henry's wife, Jacqueline Levy, and Henry's brother, Hertsel Levy - who then purchased in total over 12,000,000 shares of iDial stock before the merger was publicly announced.

In its action, the Commission charged the following defendants with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder:

• Yanni Abecassis (aka Yannai Abecassis), age 33, is allegedly a Canadian citizen and resident of Obarrio, Panama. During the relevant time period, according to the Commission's complaint, Abecassis and Leon Levy were business associates, and Abecassis, who facilitated the iDial-GlobalNet merger on behalf of iDial, included Leon Levy in the merger negotiations as his associate.
   
• Leon Levy, age 37, allegedly either a Spanish citizen or a Venezuelan citizen, and a resident of Obarrio, Panama, allegedly was formerly employed as a stockbroker in Panama with Sterling Financial Investment Group, a Boca Raton, Florida based broker-dealer.
   
• Ilan Sabbah, age 27, is allegedly a Canadian citizen and a resident of Obarrio, Panama. According to the Commission's complaint, Sabbah resides at the same address in Panama as Leon Levy and Abecassis.
   
• Henry Levy (aka Henry Levy Sakhai) is allegedly 35 years of age and a resident of Panama, and married to Jacqueline Levy. According to the Commission's complaint, Henry Levy holds brokerage accounts jointly with Jacqueline Levy, and with his brother, Hertsel Levy.
   
• Jacqueline Levy is allegedly 33 years of age, a resident of Panama, and Henry Levy's spouse.
   
• Hertsel Levy (aka Hertzel Levy) is allegedly 46 years of age, a resident of Panama, and Henry Levy's brother.

The Commission seeks, against each of those defendants, a permanent injunction, civil money penalties, and disgorgement of illegal profits with prejudgment interest.

The Commission also named in its complaint, as a relief defendant, the following corporation, against which the Commission sought disgorgement of illegal profits and prejudgment interest, based on the entity's unjust enrichment, through receipt of illegal insider trading profits from Leon Levy and Sabbah:

• Atlantic 1 Corp. is a Panama corporation, duly incorporated on September 17, 2003, three weeks after the merger of iDial and GlobalNet was announced. According to the Commission's complaint, Abecassis is the President and a director of Atlantic 1; Atlantic 1 shares the same mailing address as Leon Levy and Sabbah; and Atlantic 1 has a brokerage account with the same Irving, Texas based broker-dealer through which Leon Levy and Sabbah purchased shares of iDial in August 2003.

The Commission also filed a motion on February 19, seeking, against each of the defendants and the relief defendant, ex parte emergency relief, including an accounting, an asset freeze, an order prohibiting the destruction or alteration of documents and expediting discovery, and a repatriation order. The court granted all relief sought by the Commission in its motion.

The Commission gratefully acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the National Association of Securities Dealers, which referred this matter to the Commission.

SEC Complaint in this matter

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18584.htm