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Outstanding! Given the circumstances, as presented by the Defense, I was hoping for a minimum of 5 years. Seems like Judge McFadden did a nice job of sorting through Berman's team's BS.
Berman's sentencing hearing was supposed to start about two hours ago. Wish it was being streamed on YouTube or some other fine subscription service. Actually, I suppose it could be done by now. Waiting for the magic words, "Keith Berman remanded to the slammer!"
LOL! A perfect description of the Keith Berman Effect!
The tragic part of the sentencing process is the "moral compass" you mentioned will never be part of the discussion. The glowing remarks in the support letters made me want to blow lunch. Similar to a number of our politicos, Berman was obviously the Pied Piper of his own highly irrational cult.
Despite several flaky business models, which had no chance of any significant success, DECN stayed in business by touting a grand future, based on heavily promoted lawsuits. How many months did DECN hang on, while Berman was operating under the cover of the lawsuits against J&J? Ultimately, DECN (Berman) never disclosed any of the financial details related to the purported J&J "settlements"! My guess is the settlements were so rotten (or non-existent) Berman could never justify the time and money it took to chase verdicts that had no chance of ever happening. For many years DECN survived, not due to any business activity, but due to Berman's inclination to blow smoke, much like the GenViro/Covid fiasco! For me an important remaining question is, "How did Berman personally survive, if he never took personal compensation from DECN, PharmaTech, and/or any of the related companies? A deep dive by an SEC forensic accountant, with public disclosure, would have been special! Oh well.....
It is interesting to note the number of "confused" statements found in Berman's Sentencing Memorandum. IMO, Berman's attorneys, coupled with Berman's imagination, provided their somewhat whacked out view the scam. It likely goes without saying, but their statements were not always truthful. It seems the Berman gang concluded the SEC and/or DOJ would not invest the time and/or effort needed to verify the bogus claims. I bet there are just a few people, you and I included, who could help clarify! And the ridiculous claims about St. Keith always endeavoring to serve mankind, seemed to overlook the many years of BS he spewed related to the diabetic test devices. Apparently Berman's family has abandoned him (remember the crap about needing relief from his bail travel restriction to allow visiting his now estranged son in San Diego?), so this very sickly, broken and broke old man should be instantly freed for time served, as of this coming Friday. The Government wants 10 years and Berman's team is lobbying for 1 year. Hmmm...how about a compromise? 5 years sounds logical to me.
Oh my! You must be one of the "non-shareholder malcontents" Berman referenced in the "shareholder" letters to the SEC. LOL! It's been fun reading the documents recently added to Pacer, especially the Exhibit Lists! I was reminded Berman threatened to hire a private detective to identify me and get details on "Fredo", the SEC attorney. The Exhibit Lists included literally hundreds of our posts from IHUB. It was a fun trip down memory lane! BTW, the April 5 Government's sentencing document lobbied for a reduced sentence of a meager 10 years in the slammer and 3 years of supervised probation, rather than the actual guideline of potentially over 20 years. FYI, the Government concluded the overall financial losses from the DECN scam exceeded $20mm, potentially up to $68mm. The loss amount, i.e. "in excess of $20mm", is one of the factors used to determine Berman's time behind bars. If memory serves, the actual sentencing is set to happen in the next two or three weeks.
After watching rip-off artist CEO Seth Shaw in action for nearly 10 years, I wouldn't get within a 100 miles of investing in anything this clown is promoting! Since taking over as TAUG's CEO in 2012, he never once missed a single monthly paycheck. With this in mind, Shaw personally pocketed well in excess of a million investor dollars, And guess what. Proving to be nothing more than a serial conman and/or completely inept, CEO Seth Shaw managed to bludgeon TAUG's shareholders by failing to deliver anything close to a viable business opportunity.
Damn! I have been AWOL from IHub for several months, but decided to check on some of my favorite OTC criminals. It looks like one of the Top Ten has finally bit the dust. Is there any sort of claw back CEO Seth Shaw's sheep (investors?) can use to chase even a miniscule part of the millions they donated to support Shaw's comfortable life style? Hell no! Shaw should be ensconced in a criminal preceding, rather than an SEC administrative action. Remember when Shaw got whacked for was using an alias to attack we truthers here on IHub, then got whacked again for doing exactly the same thing? At the very least Shaw is a serial liar! There is a good teaching moment in all of this! OTC investors must always be wary of slugs, like Shaw, who are pocketing millions on the backs of the shareholders, while said perpetrator has little to no skin in the game!
Oh my! TAUG now has a current TOTAL Market Cap of $3489. It would seem the Company has no assets. Let me see if I got this right! Slime Ball, CEO Seth Shaw, collected a handsome monthly paycheck every single month for over 10 years by way of the benevolent TAUG investors and never once delivered even the slightest return to these same investors. The list of Seth Shaw business failures borders on incomprehensible! And he remained the TAUG CEO! Shaw personally walked with in excess of $1.5 million in various forms of compensation, but his very naive "believers" got crushed, while Sethie was living the high life, including purported "business trips" to various parts of the U.S. and Europe. Can you say "immoral unethical scam artist!" Shaw's good buddy Keith Berman of DECN fame is heading to jail. Hmmm...should Shaw be joining him?
Unbelievable! I just read the Government's entire Release Revocation justification. Berman is obviously a very sick puppy!
LOL! Checking the most recent Court filing, Keith "The Class Clown" Berman, has been writing his own doctor's excuses! The Judge has gotta love it. Unbelievable! Berman continues to think he is the "smartest person in the room!"
Deader than a doornail, but conman Seth Shaw probably continues to pocket his compensation!!! Samo, samo! Despite no business, Shaw has personally been banking a substantial pile of shareholders' funds for over 10 years! Actually, TAUG's "independent" Directors should be sued for ignoring their fiduciary obligation to TAUG's investors!
Points well-taken and are quite rational. LOL! Too bad!
For those who have watched this clown for x-number of years, Berman's Financial Affidavit might make for interesting reading. Do you know if the FA is considered a public record?
One would hope the Feds dig very deeply into Berman's finances! Think about it. He claimed never taking a salary or any money out of DECN. OTOH, he seemed to live a rather comfortable (lavish?) lifestyle. It would seem virtually certain DECN, buying the PharmaTech subsidiary from Berman, greatly helped his personal financial picture. I don't believe the buyout conditions were ever disclosed to the DECN shareholders. Plus, Berman was most probably paying himself healthy license fees for the passe' diabetes patents, as, if memory serves, he personally held the rights to the patents, not DECN.
Hi IP! It's been awhile. I too was brought to DECN on the basis of Berman's rants re: JnJ, then his hookup with another dandy down here in the dregs of OTC land. About a year ago, after playing perhaps a small part in getting Berman whacked, it seemed appropriate to move on to other adventures. OTOH, I do lurk! (LOL!) The Court Order (all 34 pages), granting the Default Judgement against Berman and DECN, made for some scintillating reading. Your post reminded me of one of my favorite Berman moments:
(In Reply To: rawman)
plutoniumimplosion Sunday, March 29, 2020 7:44:19 PM
You know, you're a dick.
Enjoy the Holidays!
It is now over 3 months, since the laughable CEO Seth Shaw announced personally acquiring 1,500,000 TAUG shares, but still no SEC Form 4 filing. What is this clown trying to pull? Shaw publicly committed to filing the Form 4 the week of the stock purchases, which reportedly took place during the period May 5 - May 9, 2022.
Ah yes! The investors have gotta love it. CEO Seth Shaw has now stiffed the shareholders for two quarters in a row. Shaw has chosen to ignore a CEO's fiduciary obligation to regularly apprise the Company's owners, the shareholders, as to the financial condition of the Corporation.
The 2022 Annual Report is long past due, but now the Q1 2023 report is nowhere to be found. Of course Shaw blamed these failures to report on the complexity of the regulatory environment. This flimsy excuse is most interesting, given little has actually changed since TAUG's quarterly reports for Fiscal 2020 and 2021 were filed, as required by the SEC. Yes indeed, it is complete BS!
No one, aside from the insiders (and most likely Shaw's lender buddies) have the foggiest idea regarding TAUG's financial health. Here's a thought! TAUG is so deeply in the toilet, Shaw cannot scrounge up enough cash to pay accountants and auditors to produce the quarterly reports.
How many shares of the financially crushed Vistagen (VTGN) is TAUG still holding? Oops....nobody knows, because the investors have not seen a TAUG Balance Sheet since the quarter ended December 31, 2021. The VTGN shares lost nearly 90% of their value in one day a few weeks ago. If TAUG was still holding the VTGN shares, it was a multi-hundred thousand dollar hit to the Company's Asset line.
Financial guru Seth Shaw is joke! The amount of investor funds that Shaw has trashed chasing hugely speculative "opportunities" has been obscene. Shaw views himself as a financial wizard; however, as a consequence of his oft proven lack of acumen and thorough due diligence, the TAUG investors have gotten creamed by idiotic business decisions for the last 10 years! Seth Shaw has pocketed roughly $2 million in compensation, while the shareholders have been treated to watching Rome burning on a daily basis!
Amen!
A thoughtful, fact-derived response. Thanks!
Is TAUG shipping CBD-laced chewing gum from its e-commerce site in violation the Federal law, i.e. selling ingestible CBD? Best guess, I think not. So what is the business development issue? Again best guess, few know about the product and/or its value proposition! Welcome to Marketing 101, i.e. visibility and demand creation. Check out the marketing gurus/consultants Shaw has engaged, then check out how much money Shaw has spent on these folks! Good marketers are not bought for pennies! If Shaw's salary instead went to marketing, TAUG might actually be making some headway!
Can TAUG survive another year under the CEO Seth Shaw's reign? Not only is TAUG hugely under-funded, but Shaw obviously doesn't know jack about basic marketing and new product due diligence, plus the regulatory entanglement in Washington D.C. isn't going to improve anytime soon.
IMO, your response nailed it! Contrary to the oft stated opinion on this TAUG Board, there will be no Federal cannabis legislation in the foreseeable future. And surprise, surprise...CEO Seth Shaw will continue pocketing his gross over-compensation on the backs of the TAUG investors! Samo, samo...just like it has been for the last decade!
I just noticed TAUG's 52-week high is .07. Today the shares are trading at 1/10 of the 52-week high, i.e. .007. Needless to say, investors are far less than enamored with CEO Seth Shaw and his laughable operation, as the share price has plummeted by 90% in just the last year. How 'bout that ineptly marketed CBD-laced chewing gum?
Does Shaw EVER do any due diligence and/or actual market research? Of course the one thing CEO Seth Shaw does do is never misses a monthly paycheck. It's been going on for 10 years! Shaw has pocketed well over $1.5 million, while the TAUG shareholders have gotten slaughtered by Shaw's whims of fantasy.
What does State-regulated marijuana have to do with TAUG and it's legal NON-MARIJUANA chewing gum???? 19 States, including California, the most populace State in the nation, plus Washington D.C., have already legalized recreational MJ, but even this has done little or nothing to support TAUG's CBD chewing gum business. So how will more State marijuana ballot initiatives in 2022 have any impact on Tauriga Sciences? I believe the referenced poster has already answered the question in previous posts. It will have no impact....right?
I find the following comment interesting in light of the earlier claims and the Senate Appropriations Committee Report.
Contrary to the claim in the post, TAUG does not have chewing gum. Tauriga Sciences has a contract with a chewing gum manufacturer to distribute TAUG's versions of the chewing gum. TAUG is basically a distributor, i.e. a middleman.
The chewing gum manufacturer HAS the IP associated with its chewing gum, not Tauriga Sciences. Re: TAUG, there is little of value for a bigger more financially sound company to buy! Want proof? Check-out TAUG's balance sheet.
Per the posted Appropriations Committee report, there is nothing in the proposed bill that even comes close to legalizing the general use of cannabis. Plus, there is little doubt a final bill is months away. Passage certainly will not happen before the August recess.
CEO Seth Shaw can blow all the smoke he chooses, but the facts are clear! The gum business is a disaster. The gum business has produced a meager $861,318 in net revenue over the last 45 months. Conversely, TAUG has absorbed $10,027,061 in losses from operations over that same 45 months. Yes indeed, $861K in net revenue and over $10 million in operating losses, which will require over $9 million in future profits for the chewing gum to break-even! Just for grins, what's TAUG's biggest operating expense item? It is not marketing or research and development! G&A by far outstrips any other expense category. Guess what. G&A includes salaries and consulting fees. Yep! Shaw continues to receive his truckload of compensation, despite TAUG getting whacked with losses for the last 10 years! What's more, the G&A line more than doubled, when comparing the first 9 months of fiscal 2022 vs. fiscal 2021. Unfortunately, CEO Seth Shaw CHOSE to forego providing an Annual Report for fiscal 2022. The report should have been transmitted to the SEC as of June 30, 2022!
No CBD advertising, while awaiting Federal legislation to legalize cannabis? Oh really????? I suggest Googling "CBD Advertisements"! The ads promoting CBD are all over the various forms of media! Most folks now understand that CBD, minus THC, is already very legal and can be sold via interstate commerce. Wanna see real problems for TAUG? Just wait until there is chewing gum, coming from the big, well financed players, which is laced with CBD and THC or just THC!!!
Based upon Congress' track record, even if something were truly on the table re: legalizing pot, nothing will happen prior to the August recess. And that I will bet on! BTW, the last thing TAUG needs to see is legalized pot. Right now, TAUG is playing in a relatively small market niche. Were MJ legalized by the Feds, take a guess how many well-financed players could opt to jump into the gum business.
So TAUG's chewing gum is legal, thus approved for sale via interstate commerce. Based on your stated principle of marketing, the gum should already be the subject of an intense marketing campaign. Unfortunately, TAUG's miniscule stash of cash is not enough to make a difference. The level of demand for TAUG's pricey gum is a joke. No demand = no sales! Any intense marketing effort should have commenced months ago.
FYI, TAUG's CBD-laced chewing gum is not particularly unique, thus there are all sorts of potential industry threats. In reality TAUG's gum supplier could be a potential major threat. Specifically, the supplier could sign on with larger, more productive and better financed sellers. Might there be an appetite to do this? Basically, TAUG is nothing more than an easily replaced middleman. What value does TAUG bring to the table? It seems pretty certain, CEO Seth Shaw promised to deliver solid distribution. FYI, Shaw's vaunted distribution partners have failed for every single TAUG consumer product since 2012. It is pretty certain the original deal with the chewing gum manufacturer was accomplished by promoting Shaw's purportedly special Rolodex, but one 1 or 2 poorly performing distributors and a mostly unknown web-based store, says volumes about Shaw's special Rolodex! Rest assured, more inventory write-downs are coming. When is the gum supplier agreement up for review/renewal? It could get messy!
Wrong! It's very basic. Consumers have no interest in buying a no-name high-priced CBD-laced chewing gum! Period! The brand name TauriGum is pure dumb! Building a recognizable consumer brand is expensive and TAUG does not have the cash needed to create demand. This has been an on-going problem throughout CEO Seth Shaw's reign. Shaw doesn't know jack about marketing. The product introduction failures have become legend! It is a very long list.
Buying or not buying TAUG's chewing gum has nothing to do with "regulation"! It is a guarantee almost no one considers the legal standing of an online purchase. Controlling product distribution is up to the seller, not the buyer! This may come as a revelation, but Amazon for example will not allow the distribution of illegal commodities and most consumers know it or don't care.
For those not familiar with CEO Seth Shaw's history of crushing his company's investors, here are a few revealing facts:
1. Seth Shaw was took the positions of Director and CEO on August 22, 2012. On that day he received a signing bonus of 1.5 million shares valued at the then market price of .20 per share, thus the signing bonus totaled $300,000.
2. When Shaw took the throne there were approximately 170,000,000 outstanding shares.
3. Initially CEO Seth Shaw was to receive a salary of $11,000 per month, but instead chose to forego the monthly cash payment in favor of receiving 60,000 Company shares per month. The following statement was included in Shaw's Compensation Agreement:
It seems the bulk of the post assumes TAUG is somehow focused on the medical cannabis business, which it is not! The CBD gum adventure is a disaster! Want proof? Take a look at the balance sheet gum product inventory line, then compare it to sales. Rest assured, TAUG is destined to take another significant inventory write down.
CEO Seth Shaw has only sucked in one potentially significant distributor and said distributor has done nothing, other than buy an initial stock of product. TAUG appears to have already acknowledged that $100,000 of the initial stocking order is now bad debt. An educated guess suggests there are additional ugly financial disclosures to come! And how about Shaw's highly touted marketing arrangements, which have simply served to burn cash and delivered nothing to the shareholders! TAUG's product marketing is a joke!
Wouldn't it be a treat to see TAUG's official business plan? CEO Seth Shaw continues to throw crap at a wall, hoping something sticks! More importantly, he continues to be handsomely compensated for delivering one disaster after another! Yep! Ten years of bludgeoning the investors and smiling all the way to his bank.
Here is the comment included in TAUG's July 14, 2022 Notification of Late Filing:
It appears "The Slug of Wallstreet", CEO Seth Shaw, may have done it again!
Of course the shareholders cannot be sure, because Shaw will be filing the long passed due 10-K, if/when feasible, i.e. when he feels like it, but it seems quite possible that TAUG's single largest balance sheet asset was hammered with multi-hundred thousand dollar losses by the end of trading on July 22, 2022. Yes indeed, VistaGen finished DOWN 86% on Friday. When is Shaw going to admit that he has absolutely demolished the TAUG investors with his idiotic equity investments? Wanna see proof of one man's horrible performance? Check out the Trading Securities section of the most recently filed quarterly report. It begins on Page F-34.
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1142790/000149315222004768/form10-q.htm
So CEO Seth Shaw is claiming to be building a CBD business, but he is burning through borrowed cash by making braindead securities investments. And he continues to pull down his quite handsome monthly compensation and bonuses! For what??? It has now been going on for 10 years and the TAUG shareholders continue to be bludgeoned! Nicely done Mr. Shaw!
The only thing "big" about TAUG are the weekly paychecks completely inept CEO, Seth Shaw, has been pocketing since September 2012! Yep, 10 years under Shaw's watchful eye and the TAUG investors have been bludgeoned, with Shaw laughing all the way to the bank.
Thanks! I was looking for the missing SEC Form 4, but overlooked the possibility of invisible ink.
Shaw has been bludgeoning the TAUG investors for roughly a decade, but the less-than-ethical Mr. Shaw has NEVER once missed pocketing a monthly paycheck or self-approved bonus! The Board consists of a bunch of Seth Shaw's paid lackies! What's wrong with this picture? While the TAUG investors have lost millions, Shaw has personally walked with millions!
TAUG's CEO Seth Shaw has never missed a paycheck or a bonus, which has led to pocketing multiple millions in Company funds. TAUG's investors have been unmercifully bludgeoned, during the decade-long reign of this totally inept CEO. The lengthy list of unadulterated business screw-ups has become legendary, but Seth Shaw's personal finances have not suffered even one iota!