U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Litigation Release No. 18381 / September 30, 2003
, Civil Action Number 3 03-CV-2246-N(Godbey) (N.D. Texas, Dallas Division)
Civil Action No. 3 03-CV-2247-G(Fish) (N.D. Texas, Dallas Division).
SEC Files Lawsuit Against 2DoTrade, Inc., Its President, Several Stock
Promoters, and Two Attorneys In Bogus Anti-Anthrax, Pump-and-Dump Scheme --
Also Files Related Lawsuit Against California Attorney and Accountant for
$7.5 million "Shell-Factory" Scheme
On September 30, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a
lawsuit against 2DoTrade, Inc., its president, several recidivist
stock promoters, and two attorneys in a "pump-and-dump"
market-manipulation case. 2DoTrade is an SEC-reporting company whose
stock was formerly quoted publicly on the OTC Bulletin Board.
According to the SEC's complaint, from July to November 2001, the
defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme in which they artificially
pumped 2DoTrade's stock with false press releases, spam e-mail, and a
fraudulent website and then illegally dumped millions of shares into
the inflated market. At one point in the scheme-amid recurring reports
of fatal anthrax attacks in the United States-several of the
defendants sought to profit from the nation's fear of terrorism with
false press releases about 2DoTrade's purported imminent distribution
of an anti-anthrax compound in the United States. In a separate civil
lawsuit filed on the same day, the SEC alleged securities fraud and
other violations against a California attorney and accountant who
created and sold the public shell company used in the 2DoTrade scheme.
The 2DoTrade complaint alleges that, in June 2001, defendants Barry W.
Gewin, 36, of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, Eric T. Landis, 38, of
Charlottesville, Virginia, and Dominic Roelandt, 26, of Dehderhoutem,
Belgium, gained control of 2DoTrade-a shell company with no assets or
revenue-by acquiring control over virtually all of its "free-trading"
stock. Then, in collusion with 2DoTrade's president, defendant George
R. Taylor of Ayrshire, Scotland, they manipulated 2DoTrade's stock
price in two fraudulent promotional campaigns. The first campaign,
which took place in July and August 2001, touted 2DoTrade's ownership
of certain import/export contracts supposedly worth $300 million. In
reality, these contracts were worthless. The second campaign, which
began in October 2001, claimed that 2DoTrade was testing an
anti-anthrax compound called "ATHOQ" at a hospital and a university in
the United Kingdom for imminent distribution in the United States. In
reality, ATHOQ was a sham, and no anthrax testing or product
distribution ever occurred.
SNIPPETS:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Files Lawsuit Against 2DoTrade, Inc., Its President, Several Stock Promoters, and Two
On September 30, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against
According to the SEC's complaint, from July to November 2001, the defendants engaged in a
At one point in the scheme-amid recurring reports of fatal anthrax attacks in the United
In a separate civil lawsuit filed on the same day, the SEC alleged securities fraud and other
The 2DoTrade complaint alleges that, in June 2001, defendants Barry W. Gewin, 36, of Enon
The first campaign, which took place in July and August 2001, touted 2DoTrade's ownership of
Other defendants named in the SEC's 2DoTrade complaint are * Oxford and Hayes, Ltd., DBE
Gewin used offshore accounts in their names to sell approximately 869,000 shares of 2DoTrade
* Hackney Holdings, Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation, and Weston Partners, Inc., a
On June 26, 2001, Wood and Walker orchestrated a manipulative matched trade with Gewin and
Wood offered and sold approximately 293,000 2DoTrade shares through a 21st Equity Partners
Roelandt was enjoined in August 2000 by the United States District Court for the Northern
Wood was the subject of an SEC cease-and-desist order for violations of the anti-touting
The Commission's complaint alleges that defendant 2DoTrade violated the
It alleges that defendant Taylor violated the anti-fraud provisions and aided and abetted
According to the complaint, from 1998 to 2002, Shaber and Wright engaged in an elaborate
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