![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONLitigation Release No. 19603 / March 9, 2006Securities and Exchange Commission v. Opsis Technologies Int'l, Inc., et al., Case No. 03-62251-Civ.-Martinez/BandstraCourt Orders Defendants To Pay Over $5 Million in Disgorgement and Civil Penalties For Fraudulent Stock OfferingOn February 22, 2006, the Honorable Jose E. Martinez, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, issued a Final Judgment as to Defendants Michael Kordich and Venture Capital Holdings LLC (VCH). The Commission's complaint alleges that Kordich and VCH spearheaded a fraudulent offering of the securities of Opsis Technologies International, Inc. that caused over 100 investors to lose nearly $4.6 million. The Final Judgment requires Kordich and VCH to disgorge a total of $4,808,953, which includes the full amount of the proceeds raised from investors through the fraudulent offering and prejudgment interest on that amount. Kordich and VCH are jointly and severally liable for the full amount. The Court also imposed civil money penalties on both defendants. Kordich was ordered to pay a $110,000 penalty, and VCH was ordered to pay a $550,000 penalty. Both defendants had previously consented, without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, to the issuance of partial judgments imposing "penny stock" bars and permanent injunctions against future violations of Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In a related administrative proceeding commenced pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act, the Commission previously issued an order, to which Kordich consented without admitting or denying the Commission's findings, that barred Kordich, on the basis of the federal court injunction, from association with any broker or dealer. In addition to Kordich and VCH, the Commission's complaint also charged defendants Opsis Technologies, M&T Consulting, Joseph Catapano and Aaron Andrzejewski with violating the federal securities laws as a result of their roles in the fraudulent offering of Opsis securities. The Court previously imposed a range of injunctive relief against those other defendants and ordered them to pay disgorgement as well as civil penalties. For additional information, see Litigation Release Nos. 18518 (December 22, 2003); 19140 (March 17, 2005); and Rel. No 34-52272 (August 16, 2005).
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19603.htm
|