Fong's 1990 SEC Troubles and Miami Herald Exposure:
Equitex’s chairman and chief executive, Henry Fong, was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1990.
“Fong, a Jupiter [Florida] resident and philanthropist, knows his way around money. As people rushed in to buy Equitex shares, Fong cashed out selling more than a third of his 1.6 million shares
as the stock peaked.
Back to the philanthropist Fong – the one who sold
one-third of his stock in Equitex to investors
clamoring to get on the Internet bank band wagon.
The Miami Herald wrote, “According to a 1990
complaint filed by the SEC, Fong took part in an
$8 million stock manipulation scheme involving
newly minted shares of Star Publications. The
story made the rounds as business journals drove
home the problem of penny stock fraud. But the
SEC case against Fong went nowhere, and it was
dropped when Fong agreed to return $73,775 in
profits.
In 1999, Duffy wasn’t concerned about Fong’s
past, telling the Miami Herald, “I’m the one who
put the deal together and Henry Fong has been
true to his word. I have no problem with the guy. I
think he’s one of the most trustworthy guys in
South Florida.”
Duffy forgot all about that statement two years
later when he was fired, locked out of his offices,
and removed as chairman in November 2001.
Outraged at his treatment, Duffy sued the bank and
received a judicial order on February 8, 2002,
putting him back in charge and barring the new
board from running the bank.
FONG HAD HIS FIRST SEC SUSPENSION September 2012.
