Verify Smart Corp. (VSMR)

[Bandr]

Scam Run by Dan Scammell. Report this guy to the SEC before you lose your money

Read here:

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Baines+Coquitlam+stock+promoter+associate+suspended+from/6633706/story.html

Baines: Coquitlam stock promoter, associate suspended from B.C.


BY DAVID BAINES, VANCOUVER SUN MAY 16, 2012


Baines: Coquitlam stock promoter, associate suspended from B.C.

Vancouver Sun business columnist David Baines.
Photograph by: PNG files , .
Long time Coquitlam stock promoter Dan Scammell and associate Caspar de Beer have been turfed from the B.C. securities market for at least five years after a B.C. Securities Commission hearing panel found they illegally sold $1.2 million worth of shares in two private companies.

The hearing panel — headed by BCSC vice-chairman Brent Aitken — also ordered the two men to disgorge to the commission the $1.2 million they illegally raised.

“As a matter of principle, we agree that if capital is raised in contravention of the Securities Act, it follows that it is appropriate that the amount raised be disgorged to the commission,” the panel stated in its decision, released Wednesday.

“If we collect any of the $1.2 million, it will go to the investors,” BCSC communications officer Richard Gilhooley said in an interview.

The panel also ordered the pair to pay $50,000 each in administrative penalties.

Until they pay the required amounts, their suspensions will remain in effect, even if the five-year period has expired.

This matter first came to public attention in February 2009 when The Vancouver Sun reported that Scammell was selling seed shares of VerifySmart Corp.

The company was developing software to prevent credit card fraud. Scammell told investors that a high-volume merchant processor had signed on to the company’s technology.

He projected revenues would climb to $200 million by the end of fiscal 2009, and the company’s share would start at five per cent ($10 million) and increase to 10 per cent ($20 million per year).

In March 2009, VerifySmart and a related company, Verified Transactions Corp., entered into a joint-venture licensing deal with a Nevada shell company, Treasure Explorations Inc., which traded on the OTC Bulletin Board in the United States.

The shell then changed its name to Verify Smart Corp. and embarked on an aggressive promotion.

Among other things, the company hired a California-based stock tout service, Cohen Independent Research Group Inc., to prepare an “independent” research report projecting millions of dollars in net profits and a soaring stock price.

However, the promised sales never materialized and investors were left with worthless paper.

In November 2010, BCSC enforcement staff issued a notice of hearing alleging that, from 2006 to 2009, Scammell and de Beer had sold $1.2 million worth of shares of VerifySmart and Verified Transactions to 99 investors in Canada and the United States without filing a prospectus and without being registered to sell or advise in securities.

The pair claimed they sold the shares under exemptions to prospectus and registration requirements, as provided in the Securities Act, specifically an exemption allowing for the sale of shares to friends, family members and business associates. However, the BCSC enforcement staff maintained that the purchasers did not fall into any of these categories.

A hearing was held in July 2011, and in December 2011, the panel found that Scammell and de Beer sold the shares without meeting prospectus and registration requirements.

In considering appropriate sanctions, the panel said there is no evidence Scammell and de Beer benefited from their misconduct. On the contrary, the panel said, it appears that both lost money.

However, the panel said, “there is evidence of significant harm to investors … There is no market for the securities the investors purchased, nor is there any evidence that their investments have any present or future value.”

The panel noted there was no evidence that either man has any regulatory history.

Not mentioned was the fact that Scammell has touted many penny stock flame-outs, including Caneco Audio Publishers Inc. (an extended-play tape recorder for novels); Capital Reserve Inc. (an optical device for measuring alcohol and drug impairment); and Axagon Resources Ltd. (a salt-free ice-melting compound).

Two of these deals, Capital Reserve and Axagon, became the subject of regulatory action. Although a player in both, Scammell was never cited for any wrongdoing.



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Baines+Coquitlam+stock+promoter+associate+suspended+from/6633706/story.html#ixzz2rdSEpvnz