Serial scammer Sandy Winick extradicted from Thailand, faces major felony charges in his $140 million dollar fraud.
Blackout Media ex Winick pleads not guilty
2013-10-25 13:28 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Toronto's Sandy Winick has pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud charges he faces in New York for an alleged $140-million fraud. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He entered the plea in an appearance before New York Judge James Orenstein on Oct. 18, 2013, after being extradited from Thailand. The judge ordered that he remain in custody.
Prosecutors claim that Mr. Winick was the mastermind of a scheme that allegedly defrauded penny stock investors in 35 countries. He and eight others ran pump-and-dumps with 11 pink sheets and OTC Bulletin Board listings, selling tens of millions of shares while the companies issued false and misleading news releases, according to the government. They ran the scheme at least partly through boiler rooms in Thailand, prosecutors claim.
After filing the charges, the FBI tracked Mr. Winick to Thailand, with the assistance of the Thai Special Branch police. He had been traveling on a New Zealand passport with the alias Robin Cheer. Thai police arrested him on the U.S. charges on Aug. 16, 2013, at the Empire Place apartment in Bangkok and began an extradition process that only took two months.
Although Mr. Winick has pleaded not guilty, he is negotiating a plea agreement that prosecutors say will likely result in a deal. Both he and the government have requested that the judge grant them until Dec. 19, 2013, to carry out such negotiations. (They also said that in the event of trial, the complexity of the matter will require additional preparation time.)
Another Canadian in the case, Gregory Curry, also entered a not guilty plea on Oct. 18 before Judge Orenstein. His circumstances were nearly identical to those of Mr. Winick. Thai police arrested him in August, and he was extradited along with Mr. Winick. He too remains in custody, and is negotiating a plea agreement.
The allegations against the men are contained in an indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 7, 2013. The charges are 24 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false personation. Of the nine defendants in the case, there are four Canadians: Mr. Winick, 55; Mr. Curry, 63; Kolt Curry, 38; and Gregory Ellis, 46. All have been arrested.
Prosecutors claim that the men ran a five-year pump-and-dump scheme starting in January, 2008, in which they acquired shares for little or nothing in 11 OTC-BB and pink sheets listings. They then secretly promoted the companies through e-mail blasts, chat rooms, touting websites and newsletters. They co-ordinated their activity so that it coincided with false or misleading news releases from the companies, the indictment states.
In all, the men were able to dump $120-million worth of stock during the promotions, according to prosecutors. They wired some of the money to nominee entities in Costa Rica and Panama, the indictment states.
After the pump-and-dumps, the men targeted investors a second time through an advance fee scheme, prosecutors claimed. The scheme, as described in the indictment, involved the men using call centres to target owners of worthless penny stocks. Pretending to represent law firms and other entities, call centre employees allegedly said they were pursuing class action lawsuits to recover money on behalf of investors. Investors were told they had to pay fees to join the lawsuits. The advance fee scheme generated an additional $20-million in returns, according to the indictment.
Of the Canadians in the case, Kolt Curry is the only one to have pleaded guilty. Mr. Ellis has not yet entered a plea.
The other defendants are: Gary Kershner, 72, of Arizona; Joseph Manfredonia, 45, of New Jersey; Cort Poyner, 44, of Florida; Songkram Sahachaisere, 43, of California; and William Seals, 41, also of California. Mr. Manfredonia and Mr. Seals have both pleaded not guilty, and the others have not yet entered a plea.
If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in jail for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud and substantive securities fraud, and up to five years for conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The false personation charge has a maximum sentence of three years.
The stocks the indictment listed are: Mass Petroleum Inc. of Vancouver; Blackout Media Corp. of Ontario; Resource Group International Inc. of Arizona; Liquid Gold International Corp. of Indiana; iMusic Worldwide Inc. of Washington State; WGI Holdings Inc. of Delaware; Talisman holdings Inc. of Colorado; Nikron Technologies Inc. of Kansas; Tal-Cap Inc. of Minnesota; RainEarth Inc. of Beijing; and Sync2 Networks Corp. of Nevada.
For Mr. Winick, the charges are not the first he has faced for stock market infractions. In 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil case against him for an OTC Bulletin Board shell scheme. The SEC claimed that he improperly created 59 shell companies and sold them, generating $3.2-million in illegal gains. Mr. Winick did not respond to those charges, and the SEC won a $4-million default judgment against him.
© 2013 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=...KMP®ion=U
Blackout Media ex Winick pleads not guilty
2013-10-25 13:28 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Toronto's Sandy Winick has pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud charges he faces in New York for an alleged $140-million fraud. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He entered the plea in an appearance before New York Judge James Orenstein on Oct. 18, 2013, after being extradited from Thailand. The judge ordered that he remain in custody.
Prosecutors claim that Mr. Winick was the mastermind of a scheme that allegedly defrauded penny stock investors in 35 countries. He and eight others ran pump-and-dumps with 11 pink sheets and OTC Bulletin Board listings, selling tens of millions of shares while the companies issued false and misleading news releases, according to the government. They ran the scheme at least partly through boiler rooms in Thailand, prosecutors claim.
After filing the charges, the FBI tracked Mr. Winick to Thailand, with the assistance of the Thai Special Branch police. He had been traveling on a New Zealand passport with the alias Robin Cheer. Thai police arrested him on the U.S. charges on Aug. 16, 2013, at the Empire Place apartment in Bangkok and began an extradition process that only took two months.
Although Mr. Winick has pleaded not guilty, he is negotiating a plea agreement that prosecutors say will likely result in a deal. Both he and the government have requested that the judge grant them until Dec. 19, 2013, to carry out such negotiations. (They also said that in the event of trial, the complexity of the matter will require additional preparation time.)
Another Canadian in the case, Gregory Curry, also entered a not guilty plea on Oct. 18 before Judge Orenstein. His circumstances were nearly identical to those of Mr. Winick. Thai police arrested him in August, and he was extradited along with Mr. Winick. He too remains in custody, and is negotiating a plea agreement.
The allegations against the men are contained in an indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 7, 2013. The charges are 24 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false personation. Of the nine defendants in the case, there are four Canadians: Mr. Winick, 55; Mr. Curry, 63; Kolt Curry, 38; and Gregory Ellis, 46. All have been arrested.
Prosecutors claim that the men ran a five-year pump-and-dump scheme starting in January, 2008, in which they acquired shares for little or nothing in 11 OTC-BB and pink sheets listings. They then secretly promoted the companies through e-mail blasts, chat rooms, touting websites and newsletters. They co-ordinated their activity so that it coincided with false or misleading news releases from the companies, the indictment states.
In all, the men were able to dump $120-million worth of stock during the promotions, according to prosecutors. They wired some of the money to nominee entities in Costa Rica and Panama, the indictment states.
After the pump-and-dumps, the men targeted investors a second time through an advance fee scheme, prosecutors claimed. The scheme, as described in the indictment, involved the men using call centres to target owners of worthless penny stocks. Pretending to represent law firms and other entities, call centre employees allegedly said they were pursuing class action lawsuits to recover money on behalf of investors. Investors were told they had to pay fees to join the lawsuits. The advance fee scheme generated an additional $20-million in returns, according to the indictment.
Of the Canadians in the case, Kolt Curry is the only one to have pleaded guilty. Mr. Ellis has not yet entered a plea.
The other defendants are: Gary Kershner, 72, of Arizona; Joseph Manfredonia, 45, of New Jersey; Cort Poyner, 44, of Florida; Songkram Sahachaisere, 43, of California; and William Seals, 41, also of California. Mr. Manfredonia and Mr. Seals have both pleaded not guilty, and the others have not yet entered a plea.
If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in jail for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud and substantive securities fraud, and up to five years for conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The false personation charge has a maximum sentence of three years.
The stocks the indictment listed are: Mass Petroleum Inc. of Vancouver; Blackout Media Corp. of Ontario; Resource Group International Inc. of Arizona; Liquid Gold International Corp. of Indiana; iMusic Worldwide Inc. of Washington State; WGI Holdings Inc. of Delaware; Talisman holdings Inc. of Colorado; Nikron Technologies Inc. of Kansas; Tal-Cap Inc. of Minnesota; RainEarth Inc. of Beijing; and Sync2 Networks Corp. of Nevada.
For Mr. Winick, the charges are not the first he has faced for stock market infractions. In 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil case against him for an OTC Bulletin Board shell scheme. The SEC claimed that he improperly created 59 shell companies and sold them, generating $3.2-million in illegal gains. Mr. Winick did not respond to those charges, and the SEC won a $4-million default judgment against him.
© 2013 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=...KMP®ion=U
