U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Litigation Release 18328 / September 8, 2003
, Civil Action No. CV-02-989-MMM (CWx) (C.D. Cal.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that on August
19, 2003, the United States District Court in Los Angeles entered a
final judgment against an individual who claimed to be an investment
banker who orchestrated a "pump and dump" scheme to manipulate the
price of New Energy Corp. securities over the Internet.
Marcelino Colt, aka Marcelino Colt Vasquez, who claimed to be an
investment banker and a resident of Panama and Mexico, and his firm,
Geneva Financial Ltd., a Nevis corporation that purported to be an
international investment banker, failed to answer the complaint filed
on February 1, 2002. The final judgment permanently enjoins Colt and
Geneva from future violations of the antifraud provisions of the
federal securities laws. The judgment orders Colt and Geneva to pay
civil penalties of $120,000 and $600,000, respectively, and to
disgorge $495,848, which represents the amount of their ill-gotten
gains as a result of the conduct alleged in the Commission's
Complaint, plus prejudgment interest. The judgment also orders another
defendant who did not answer the Commission's Complaint, Hector Campa
Acedo, to disgorge $120,020 representing ill-gotten gains as a result
of the conduct alleged in the Complaint and later disbursed to him,
plus prejudgment interest.
Colt and Geneva, along with New Energy and its president, Tor Ewald,
and Magnum Financial LLC dba Stratos Research LLC, and its president,
Michael S. Manahan, were charged with violating Section 10(b) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Colt and
Geneva were also charged with violating Section 17(a) of the
Securities Act of 1933.
The Commission's complaint alleged that New Energy and Ewald were part
of a "pump and dump" scheme to manipulate New Energy's stock price
during a one-month period ending on January 18, 2002, when the
Commission suspended trading. The Commission's complaint alleged that
Colt orchestrated the manipulative scheme, including the hiring of
Magnum to post a false and misleading buy recommendation, the
distribution of mass e-mails or spam containing fraudulent statements,
issuing a false and misleading press release, and placing the release
onto New Energy's website. These statements included, among other
things, false and misleading claims regarding a relationship with the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, negotiations with Coca-Cola
bottlers in Mexico for thermal generators, and false claims that New
Energy's partner had a "virtual lock" on the world market for high
SNIPPETS:
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that on August 19, 2003, the United
Marcelino Colt, aka Marcelino Colt Vasquez, who claimed to be an investment banker and a
The final judgment permanently enjoins Colt and Geneva from future violations of the
The judgment orders Colt and Geneva to pay civil penalties of $120,000 and $600,000,
The judgment also orders another defendant who did not answer the Commission's Complaint,
Colt and Geneva, along with New Energy and its president, Tor Ewald, and Magnum Financial LLC
The Commission's complaint alleged that New Energy and Ewald were part of a "pump and dump"
The Commission's complaint alleged that Colt orchestrated the manipulative scheme, including
Previously, Judgments were entered against New Energy, Ewald, Magnum, and Manahan that enjoin
The Judgments order that New Energy, Ewald, Magnum, and Manahan shall pay any monetary relief
The Court froze $82,500 of Chandler's assets and $159,250 of Maxfield's assets pending the
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