NIR Group

[QaB2i]

Same Scam Newer Players ??




As the former advisor to CEOs of small companies it is my duty to disclose what I think is the next scam out there. I have seen it all and then some. I know all of the players and there would be alias’. Their tactics and procedures. But this, is even new on me.

One of the most interesting new groups seems to be a little known band of thieves that all decided to play together. It is quite interesting really and we have been told that there are several investigations on going into what they do, how they do it and who profits from it. We can only hope the authorities are more focused than they were on Mr. Bernard Madoff.

There is a sleepy building in Great Neck, New York 1 Linden Place, Suite 207 that houses several companies controlled by the same person, one Curt or Kurt Kramer. Mr. Kramer runs a firm called Mazuma Capital that seems to prey on small companies in the nanocap world of small cap companies. Kramer also owns another company housed in the same office building and quite surprisingly in the same office called XXR Consulting. XXR according to press releases from IVOC – iVoice, Inc.; TLYN – Telynx Inc.; TXDD – Texas Diversified Distributors, Inc. POIG – Petrol Oil & Gas, Inc. and IEVM - Integrated Environmental Technologies, Ltd.; is a financial communications and investor relations firm. It is interesting that Mazuma www.mazumacapital.com which has been a defendant in numerous shareholder lawsuits, in an investor through different subsidiaries in all of these companies located in Texas and Minnesota. From the definition of a pump and dump scenario this seems to be the perfect description and violation of multiple securities laws which we understand are being investigated.

Another player in this close knit group is Kenneth Yellin who recently teamed up with the other player that I am told is the silent money behind all of Mazuma’s cloak and dagger moves, Michael Manis. Manis and Yellin are the owners of a firm called The OGP Group, LLC that interestly shares an address with Coastal Group Holdings Inc. a company owned by Michael Manis. Their incorporated address is 207 Mineola Avenue, suite707, Roslyn Heights, New York, 11577 but their working address is 33 South Service Road, Suite 107, Jericho, New York, 11753. Manis is said to have been investing for years in the shares of Initial Public Offerings through multiple named accounts and other nominee people some of whom have been barred from the securities industry. It seems since the days of IPO shares have somewhat dried up Mr. Manis has a new game which is working positions in conjunction with Mr. Kramer from Mazuma through certain broker dealers in Canada by using a strategy known as “Parking”.

Parking securities is an SEC violation. An investor such as Manis and Yellin enters into an arrangement with the Parking Firm whereby the Broker-Dealer would sell the bonds or stock or positions to another dealer for settlement that month. That dealer will then sell the same to the Parking Firm (OGP in this case) for a fraction higher than it had purchased them from the Broker-Dealer. The Broker-Dealer would then repurchase the positions from the Parking Firm for settlement the next month, with the Parking Firm earning a small profit on the transaction. Yellin and Manis are believed to have used the time between settlement dates to find a customer for the positions. The parking scheme essentially allows an extra month to find a customer for securities over which they maintained control and profit from illegally controlling the price of securities until a buyer is found. This technique is further used to ‘hedge’ as some would call it the positions the OGP and Mazuma purchased from the companies that they consult for on investor and public relations. This is obviously not a real hedge as anyone would know it. It is one of the more ingenious ways that has been disclosed to get around shorting rules in the marketplace to be able to short against deals one is in investing in. Clever but nonetheless completely illegal.

As this is done offshore and onshore there are cross trade and international trade allegations involved in this scheme which will most likely be the subject of the several investigations or already is.

Both Manis and Yellin have a relationship with Canadian broker-dealer Qualico Capital www.qualicocapital.com. While boiler room broker-dealers have been extinct for sometime here in the States and in Long Island where both Manis and Yellin hail from, Qualico seems to be the traditional boiler room set up. Its principals are Javen “Jay” King, Richard DeSouza and Peter Lindhout. On Qualico’s website they even advertise that they do “Investment Banking” and “Investor Relations”. Two services that usually scream? Pump and Dump! Qualico continues to list a host of interesting services such as Public Relations in Europe and a Dual Listing Process, which any one who knows the small cap market knows that this was widely used by the boiler rooms of the past. Qualico also has a ‘stock loan’ service. This seems to be the area where Msrs. Yellin and Manis have the most involvement as the utilize this service for their ‘parking’ scheme.

The principals of Qualico have an interesting background as well. Mr. King claims to be an former employee of involved somehow in Europus Capital, yet Europus Capital does not seem to exist. Europus Capital Strategies a Zurich based investment consulting firm does exist, yet no one seems to know Mr. King. According to certain shareholders of companies as revealed on www.worldlawdirect.com Mr. King seems to have induced people to buy shares of companies that may or may not have existed at the time. Clearly a former boiler room scenario.

Mr. King also owns www.emergingissuer.com that managed by Pastorfide Tassone Group, Inc. which is owned by Mr. King’s wife Aida Pastorfide-King. This website touts companies in the small cap world. Interestingly enough some of these companies seem to have been stocks that Mazuma and OGP’s principals traded in.

Once again, the boiler room and pump and dump tactics are alive an well. CEOs everywhere be careful who you get involved with and make sure you are not getting involved with the next scam artist.