Florida Man Fined For Making Bogus Kodak, AMR Tender Offers
01/11 06:53 PM
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A federal court ordered a Florida man to pay $400,000 after he offered to buy all the stock of Eastman Kodak Co. (EK:$0.815,0$0.215,035.83%) and American Airlines parent AMR Corp. ( AMR) despite having no way to pay for them.
According to the judgment from Miami's U.S. District Court Tuesday, Allen Weintraub and his company, Sterling Global Holdings, made tender offers for the corporations' shares--which had been under pressure in the market--though he had "substantially no assets" himself.
Weintraub, described as the sole owner, officer, director and employee of Sterling Global, is also a convicted felon and was on probation for fraud in Florida when he sent the offers, according to the suit.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sought the judgment, charging that Weintraub had deceived the public by claiming he could buy Kodak (EK:$0.815,0$0.215,035.83%) and AMR for about $1.3 billion and $3.25 billion, respectively. Each cash offer represented a roughly 50% premium over the respective company's stock price at the time.
The suit also said Weintraub walked into three banks seeking multi-billion- dollar loans, which were rejected, though he later emailed tender letters that implied he had a business relationship with the institutions and could produce letters of credit "within five minutes."
A number listed for Weintraub, who represented himself in the SEC suit, was disconnected.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@ dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-11-121853ET
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