Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.(fka LLEG)

[TenKay]

I am sure there are more than a few shareholders that would like to wipe that grin off his face. I don't know...if it was me I'd probably not put myself out there like that. Some people could become unpredictable if you are the source of their financial ruin.

But then narcissism probably can blind one to those types of risks.

[sunspotter]

LOL.

It's remarkable how many of these Pink Sheet CEO conmen feel it necessary to display their alleged religiosity so publicly.

I wonder why that is? After all, if there is any justice in the world, then despoiler of IRAs, 401ks and the cause of several folks' financial ruin Mike Bartoszek is going straight to Hell (with several of his accomplices, one hopes).

[TenKay]

http://michaelbartoszek.com/

[Recovering Stock Junkie]

I go looking one the web once in a while to see if anything is stiring and last check, nothing. Our only hope is he sells the name and gets a little for the company. That is slim to none though.

[king oil]

what?

[dmb17]

nice move

[TenKay]

Any word on Bartoszek?

[MONEYMADE]

Asher runs afoul of the SEC...
http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370540410863#.UpPdYmt5mSN


SLAP ON THE WRIST
AS THEY RUIN COMPANY AFTER COMPANY

[TenKay]

Yet another postscript to the LLEG saga.

I thought Cramer was a smart guy?

I expect he will be cooperating in the Bartoszek litigation. At this rate doesn't look like it is going to turn out well for 'ol Mikey.

[sunspotter]

Washington D.C., Nov. 25, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based penny stock financier and his firms with violating the federal securities laws when they purchased billions of shares in a pair of microcap companies and failed to register them before they were re-sold to investors for sizeable profits.



Curt Kramer and his firms Mazuma Corporation, Mazuma Funding Corporation, and Mazuma Holding Corporation agreed to disgorge those profits in paying a total of $1.4 million to settle the SEC’s charges.



An SEC investigation found that Kramer and his firms obtained unregistered shares in penny stock issuers Laidlaw Energy Group and Bederra Corporation. For the Laidlaw transactions, they claimed to rely on an exemption in Rule 504 of Regulation D that permits certain companies to offer and sell up to $1 million in unregistered shares. However, the Mazuma firms’ purchases of Laidlaw shares exceeded Rule 504’s $1 million limit, so the shares were restricted and not exempt from the registration requirements of the securities laws when they were re-sold. Mazuma Holding Corporation’s acquisition and sale of more than one billion unregistered shares of Bederra that had been misappropriated from the issuer by its transfer agent also were not exempt from registration.



“Unless there is a valid exemption, shares can’t be sold publicly without a registration statement that provides investors with the level of detail they deserve about the investment opportunity being offered,” said Michael Paley, co-chair of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Microcap Fraud Task Force that was created earlier this year to target abusive trading and fraudulent conduct in securities issued by microcap companies that often don’t regularly report their financial results publicly.



“Billions of shares were not vetted through the registration process yet became publicly traded as a result of the violations by Kramer and his Mazuma firms, and the SEC will continue to punish non-compliance with the registration provisions of the securities laws to ensure the investing public is protected in these types of transactions,” Mr. Paley added.



According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, Kramer and his firms purchased two billion Laidlaw shares, which amounted to 80 percent of Laidlaw’s outstanding shares at the time. They purchased these shares at a significant discount from prevailing market prices, making it highly likely they could immediately re-sell them publicly for a short-term profit. Kramer and his firms purchased the shares in 35 tranches with no six-month gaps, thus quantifying the transactions as a single, integrated offering through which Laidlaw exceeded the $1 million limit under Rule 504 by raising a total of $1,259,550. No registration statement was filed for any shares that Laidlaw offered and sold to Kramer and his firms, nor was any registration statement filed for any shares that Kramer and his firms subsequently re-sold into the public market. Despite exceeding the $1 million limit, Kramer and his firms continued to acquire and sell additional Laidlaw shares and profited by $126,963 from these transactions.



According to the SEC’s order, Kramer and Mazuma Holding Corporation acquired more than one billion shares of Bederra in 2009 and 2010 through 21 separate transactions from the principal of Bederra’s transfer agent, who had misappropriated the Bederra share certificates. Again they purchased the shares at a significant discount from prevailing market prices. Kramer and Mazuma Holding Corporation re-sold the misappropriated Bederra shares to the public without any registration statement for a profit of $934,404.



In the settlement, Kramer and his Great Neck, N.Y.-based Mazuma firms agreed to pay disgorgement totaling $1,061,367 plus prejudgment interest of $128,611 and penalties totaling $273,000. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Kramer and Mazuma consented to the entry of an order finding that they violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. The order requires them to cease and desist from committing violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) and not participate in any Rule 504 offerings. Entry of the order will constitute a disqualifying event for Kramer and the Mazuma firms under the recently enacted bad actor disqualification provisions of Rule 506.



The SEC’s investigation was conducted by staff in the New York and Denver offices, including Ian Karpel, Kim Greer, Haimavathi Marlier, Laura Yeu, Todd Brody, Christopher Ferrante, and Elzbieta Wraga with assistance from exam staff Terrence Bohan and Denis Koval.



http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370540410863#.UpPssenuOUl

[CTTC]

Bartoszek has a new picture on Linkn - smug smile and all

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=23889941&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=QWXp&locale=en_US&srchid=130390901384290044612&srchindex=5&srchtotal=9&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A130390901384290044612%2CVSRPtargetId%3A23889941%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

[Renee]

It appears to be DTCC housekeeping....but I scanned the linked docs quickly with no particular attention to added details, if any, by the SEC.

[sunspotter]

Interesting.

Does this have any significance to the charges that Bartoszek is facing, or is it just a piece of housekeeping, do you think?

[CTTC]

Here's an item from 2007 for memories sake;

10/12/2007 - 15:32

Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. (Ticker Symbol "LLEG") is pleased to provide the shareholders with an update on its recent progress.

December 10, 2007

Dear Laidlaw Energy Shareholders and Friends:

As we approach the end of the year, I thought this would be a good opportunity to provide an update on the progress of our company.

We are finalizing the transaction to acquire the assets in Berlin, NH and I believe we are on track for a closing around the end of the year.

We have received an offer of financing from a major Wall Street investment bank that, coupled with our equity capital and that of our partners, will provide the necessary funding to complete the development of the project. We hope to provide further updates on our progress toward the financial closing of this transaction in the coming weeks.

With respect to our Ellicottville, New York biomass-energy project, the permitting of the project is now out of the hands of the town planning board which has caused us so much unnecessary delay and now in the hands of the New York State Supreme Court, where we feel confident we will obtain a just resolution to this matter. We expect the Court will render a decision approximately 30 to 60 days after the upcoming January 8th hearing.

Separately, we have recently given our attorneys authorization to commence a civil law suit in Federal Court seeking substantial monetary damages against the town of Ellicottville and those involved in wrongly impairing our property and civil rights. Our attorneys feel we have a very strong case and we look forward to our day in court.

In addition to the Berlin and New York projects, we have a number of other projects in the pipeline that we feel offer great promise. The two projects that are the furthest along are both in the New England region and adhere to our business model of converting unutilized power assets to low emission, advanced biomass-energy plants. We are optimistic that we may be able to announce a deal on at least one if not both of these projects in the coming quarter.

Our goal is to add at least two more projects to our portfolio by the end of 2008, as Berlin and New York move forward to commercial operations.

I believe that we have made great progress this year. Our development of the Berlin project positions us at the forefront of the alternative energy industry, with one of the largest and most environmentally advanced biomass development projects in the US in our portfolio. We are confident that the success of this project, and the investment capital it will attract, will greatly raise the profile of our company and generate many more opportunities for us down the road.

I wish you all the best for a prosperous 2008.

Michael B. Bartoszek

President and Chief Executive Officer

About Laidlaw Energy Group

[Renee]

LLEG: DTCC: Please be advised that effective November 8, 2013, DTC has suspended all services, with the exception of Custody Services, for the below referenced issues:

http://dtcc.com/downloads/legal/imp_notices/2013/dtc/ope/1873-13.pdf

CUSIP...... SECURITY NAME

50730N101 Laidlaw Energy Corp (LLEG)

Links to SEC releases:

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2013/comp-pr2013-100.pdf

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2013/lr22714.htm

[Recovering Stock Junkie]

Unfortunately there would be 100 million shares for sale and no one to buy them. I only have 4 million which I paid ten grand for.
Will it ever come back to the Berlin days, I doubt it. Almost a sure bet for that.

[LLEGER]

Then maybe we'll still have a chance to dump this loser

[sunspotter]

"I wonder who is paying to keep their office phone connected and to keep their website up???"

Good question. Perhaps LLEG is going to be hijacked by a different group of fraudsters from the old bunch of fraudsters who used to run it.

[LLEGER]

I wonder who is paying to keep their office phone connected and to keep their website up???

[sunspotter]

It is a criminal act, but SEC can only pursue civil cases. Sometimes they cooperate with the DoJ who then bring criminal charges, but that is surprisingly rare. Sadly this type of white collar penny stock crime is utterly rife in North America (Canada gets in on the act) and the resources to prosecute every crook like Bartszek aren't there.

[Teedlum]

Why isn't this a criminal act? They just want to fine him? Deep capture at its best.

[sunspotter]

The full text of that link:



"Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. (LLEG) and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bartoszek were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and accused of making $1.26 million by selling more than 2 billion shares in an illegal stock offering.

In the complaint filed today in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that Laidlaw and Bartoszek sold the shares, representing more than 80 percent of the company’s outstanding common stock, in 35 unregistered tranches to three commonly controlled entities. Each tranche was bought at discount of about 50 percent then quickly and profitably resold to the public, according to the complaint.

.

Laidlaw, a New York-based power-plant developer, didn’t register the stock offering with the SEC, and Bartoszek knew the buyers were dumping the shares into the market, usually within days or weeks of the purchases, the SEC alleges.

“Registration violations are often at the core of microcap fraud and we will vigorously pursue these violations whenever we find them,” Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York office said in a statement.

The illegal offering provided the company with almost all its profit from August 2006 to January 2010, the government said. The defendants used the money to fund company operations, including Bartoszek’s salary, which reached $200,000 by 2010, the government said. The funds were also used for “miscellaneous perks and expenses” for Bartoszek, the SEC alleges.

Bartoszek Allegations

Bartoszek, of Hoboken, New Jersey, is accused of violating civil insider-trading law by personally selling more than 100 million shares of Laidlaw common stock from December 2009 to June 2011, making more than $318,000 in profit.

The SEC alleges he made those trades based on his insider knowledge about the company’s poor financial condition and actions including what the SEC described as the “illegal fire sale” of more than 80 percent of its stock.

The SEC complaint includes claims of violations of U.S. securities law, and the agency seeks disgorgement of profits, financial penalties and a bar to Bartoszek’s acting as an officer or director.

“We’re in the process of reviewing the SEC’s complaint, and the company and Mr. Bartoszek look forward to addressing the allegations in court,” said Robert Heim, a lawyer for Laidlaw and Bartoszek.

The case is SEC v. Laidlaw Energy Group Inc., 13-cv-3837, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in federal court in Manhattan at [e-mail].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [e-mail]"

[moneylover3]

Now we know, check this link out...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/laidlaw-energy-sued-over-alleged-illegal-stock-offering.html?cmpid=yhoo

[TenKay]

I didn't even make it to the last paragraph...LOL.

"We have raised a fair amount of capital over the past several months with the objective of pocketing it" said LLEG President and CEO Michael B. Bartoszek. "We believe we have identified two fake areas for investment that will really take the company to the next level and we are close to executing phony deals in these areas."

[CTTC]

LOLOLOLOLOL I came across this today in another forum. I just happened to glance at the last paragraph and realized what it was.


ENERGY RESOURCE-23 January 2007-Laidlaw Energy Group Planting Seeds to Become 'Vertically Integrated" Renewable Energy Renewable energy utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation.

Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. today said it is undertaking "a significant business expansion" aimed at creating a vertically integrated renewable energy company, including planting its own trees to provide fuel for biomass projects.

The new business lines that the company is rolling out, in addition to its current core renewable power plant development business, include a technology division that will focus on acquiring and investing in innovative renewable energy technology and an agricultural division that will focus on growing hybrid willow trees to serve as fuel for the company's biomass energy projects and for sale to third parties.

"We have raised a fair amount of capital over the past several months with the objective of pocketing it" said LLEG President and CEO Michael B. Bartoszek. "We believe we have identified two fake areas for investment that will really take the company to the next level and we are close to executing phony deals in these areas."

The company said it is currently in negotiations to make its first technology investment and expects to focus on technology that reduces power plant emissions, an area that it said is expected "to offer significant opportunity with the new Democratically controlled Congress increasingly focusing on the environment and greenhouse gas emissions reduction."

The agricultural division will focus on initially obtaining 1,000 acres of land in western New York to grow hybrid willow to provide a "closed loop" source of fuel for the company's biomass energy project in the area and also to sell to area coal plants as fuel for co-firing to help such plants reduce greenhouse gas and overall emissions.

The company expects to work with partners associated with the State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry in conjunction with this venture.

Laidlaw Energy Group sells stocks that generate profit from gullable resources. It is headquartered in a court room somewhere in New York.

[Recovering Stock Junkie]

We trusted what Mike was saying, not knowing that all along his agenda was self seeking. Even when the charges came down he lied to the stock holders about this being something very minor when in fact it was very serious. He got his and maybe the SEC will give him what is coming to him.

[bamajoe]

It's to bad we don't have paper shares. At least then we could start a fire with them!
I have definately learned my lesson the hard way with this POS. Won't be doing that again.
GLTA!

[Recovering Stock Junkie]

I have 4 million that I would gladly do the same.

[TenKay]

A class action or shareholder lawsuit of a suspended penny scam is a fruitless exercise. I doubt you would find a lawyer willing to do it on contingency so someone would have to cough up money to move it forward.

Generally there is nothing left to go after.

[Teedlum]

Any class action shareholder suits underway or planned?

[TenKay]

Bargain basement

...oh wait...

[kendanzig]

Good to see the plant being built. It sure will help the good people of Berlin.

[trade up]

I have 8.010.000 shares I Will let go for just 0.0010,,

[trade up]

LLEG is on a run . 10.000 shares at 0.0001. Geee's

[Grozny]

In case anyone is interested...

NOTE: LLEG does NOT have ANY interest in this plant. These are current pictures of the Berlin Biomass Project. It really seems to be coming along. A lot of activity on the site and a lot of workers working the day before a holiday, always a good sign!

[CTTC]

[e-mail]

[DragonBear]

This article does a good job in summarizing

This will probably be the last time I post here. Its time to push dirt on the grave of LLEG and its president and let the sands of time erase any evidence of its existence. Goodbye all.

Since we're both freeloaders here, find a way to send me an Email address, and we'll stay in contact. Maybe, I'll even tell ya where I put my mickey mouse profits from LLEG. LOL Only one microcap stock allowed at a time in my stock portfolio.

It's amazing the number of Barts and LLEGs in the OTC market. Good entertainment watching while waiting for my real stocks to run. Although at times the "Mikey has earned my trust" emotions and attacks were heightened in the post suspension period, it ain't nuttin compared to other cult stocks. One could write a book about it.

Oh per the article (almost forgot!) the penalties outlined are exactly what is to be expected. In return Bart will not have to acknowledge any wrong doing, even though he did do wrong. There has been recent movement to change that, where they don't get off without a criminal record. Don't know the status of it.

[CTTC]

This article does a good job in summarizing the life and times of Michael Bartoszek and the Laidlaw Energy Group. This will probably be the last time I post here. Its time to push dirt on the grave of LLEG and its president and let the sands of time erase any evidence of its existence. Goodbye all.

SEC Charges Laidlaw Energy Group and CEO Michael Bartoszek With Illegal Stock Offering and Insider Trading
June 5, 2013


The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a microcap company that was ensnared in an SEC trading suspension proactively targeting questionable penny stocks, and also charged the CEO who illicitly profited from selling his shares while investors were unaware of the company's financial struggles.
According to the SEC's complaint, Laidlaw Energy Group and its CEO Michael B. Bartoszek sold more than two billion shares of Laidlaw's common stock in 35 issuances to three commonly controlled purchasers at deep discounts from the market price. Laidlaw did not register this stock offering with the SEC, and no exemptions from registration were applicable. Bartoszek knew that the purchasers were dumping the shares into the market usually within days or weeks of the purchases to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. Laidlaw's $1.2 million in proceeds from these transactions was essentially the sole source of funds for the company's operations during most of its existence. Laidlaw, which is based in New York City, purports to be a developer of facilities that generate electricity from wood biomass.
The SEC alleges that these transactions diluted the value of shares previously purchased by common investors in the market, who were not told about the huge blocks of cheap stock Laidlaw was selling. Investors also were not aware that Laidlaw relied on these transactions to fund its operations entirely. The SEC suspended trading in Laidlaw stock in June 2011.
According to the SEC's complaint, Bartoszek also violated insider trading laws when he personally sold more than 100 million shares of Laidlaw common stock from December 2009 to June 2011, and he made more than $318,000 in profits. Bartoszek was in possession of material, non-public information while making these trades on the basis of his insider knowledge about Laidlaw's poor financial condition, the illegal fire sale of more 80 percent of Laidlaw's stock, and adverse developments about Laidlaw's business prospects. As a result of the volume of Bartoszek's sales and the lack of current, publicly available information about the company, these sales also violated the registration requirements of the federal securities laws.
The SEC further alleges that Laidlaw and Bartoszek made subsequent false statements about the ownership of Laidlaw shares in SEC filings to register certain common stock following the trading suspension. Laidlaw and Bartoszek misled investors to believe that the purchasers of the two billion unregistered shares had acquired them to hold as an investment in the company. The filings falsely represented that these purchasers were the current "beneficial owner" of more than 80 percent of Laidlaw's common stock, an assertion that only could have been true if the purchasers had not sold any of their Laidlaw stock. In fact, as Laidlaw and Bartoszek knew, the purchasers had long ago dumped all of the stock.
The SEC's action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging violations by Laidlaw and Bartoszek of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC action also charges Bartoszek with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and secondary liability under Sections 20(a) and 20(e) of the Exchange Act for Laidlaw's violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The complaint seeks, among other things, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, with interest, financial penalties, and injunctive relief, as to both defendants. The SEC also seeks to bar Bartoszek from participating in future penny stock offerings and from serving as public company officers or directors.
The SEC's investigation has been conducted by Michael Paley, Haimavathi Marlier, and Todd Brody of the New York Regional Office with assistance from the Microcap Fraud Working Group. Mr. Brody and Ms. Marlier will lead the SEC's litigation.
- See more at: http://newyork.citybizlist.com/article/sec-charges-laidlaw-energy-group-and-ceo-michael-bartoszek-illegal-stock-offering-and-0#sthash.AhKEeLV5.dpuf

[DragonBear]

THIS...is the irony of all ironies with this stock.

MBB managed to get the CE removed (albeit that was not his objective) but in doing so handed the SEC the rope with which they hung him.

Then there is the current stock I'm following where for some strange reason the CEO is refusing to file a form 10. As in keep the extra rope away from the SEC. Bread crumbs strongly suggest another stock issuance problem.

Bart sure stepped into it at every turn with his Susanville pump.

[TenKay]

THIS...is the irony of all ironies with this stock. MBB managed to get the CE removed (albeit that was not his objective) but in doing so handed the SEC the rope with which they hung him.

[koonohiokala]

Thank you! :) have a wonderful evening

[DragonBear]

I noticed that it was labeled as a gray market "!" Company.

Why is that? I think its better labeled with a skull and cross bones.

Believe OTC upgraded it to "!" after Bart was forced to register the stock. Having filed a 10Q last year, got rid of the skill and one of the bones.

[DragonBear]

So what advice do you all have since this PoS is dead? I saw someone said a tax write off? How is that or how would I claim it?

Consult with your broker. I've seen two suggestions:

You need for your broker to send you a statement that the trading in the stock is ill-liquid. As in no way to sell it on the open market. Your CPA can handle it from there.

or

Ask your broker if they will buy the stock from you for $1. Where it's a straight sell loss to you, and the broker then has to declare it ill-liquid in order to take their trivial loss. Assuming they want to take it.

[DragonBear]

Do you know if Renergy even owns Susanville anymore?

To be honest, I haven't browsed around websites out of California recently. We know at one time Renergy was in arrears for taxes, about the same time they got in a cash bind in NM. It seems Renergy or the new French owners wanted a way out of the lease and taxes, which LLEG stepped into...splat! Get an overvaluation on the assets, and then have a nice tax write off for the LLEG stock. What is unknown (at least to me) is whether or not the contract to sell gave Renergy the right to resell any leftover equipment if LLEG went out of business. Note the stock shares they received was convertible preferred. Less of a tax write off to repo and sell, or too much effort for Renergy to do? Then there was Chatsworth with their $615K claim standing at the front of the line. Wonder how they made out before all the cash disappeared off the books? Did they file a lien?

[Red2Profit]

So what advice do you all have since this PoS is dead? I saw someone said a tax write off? How is that or how would I claim it? Any other info?

[koonohiokala]

Wow! Seems like a lot has happened with this company. Sec suspension in 2011 and now bankruptcy declared a couple weeks ago. When I looked up the company on www.otcmarkwts.com I noticed that it was labeled as a gray market "!" Company. Why is that? I think its better labeled with a skull and cross bones. TIA!!!!! :)

[CTTC]

Do you know if Renergy even owns Susanville anymore?

[DragonBear]

In this case its sort of like hoping

the Titanic will bob up to the surface sunday and steam into NY harbor.

Are you saying the Titanic holiday cruise reservation I made yesterday isn't any good? :( After all I did buy LLEG stock back in 2007.

The LLEG Titanic ended up being Susanville. Provided material for the pump leading to the suspension. Forced a form 10. Then bled the cash off the balance sheet. Without Susanville, who knows there still might have been sightings of the LLEG stealth Titanic canoe by individual investors - difficult for the SEC radar to pick up. Bart might have been able to carry on longer with the slower cash drain. Maybe crank up a PR about a Willow Farm or sumpthin, to sell stock into.

I often wonder why Bart didn't cancel the Susanville deal, or better yet why Renergy didn't? I remember seeing a lot of legalese trying to keep Renergy's neck in the loop. But difficult to believe Renergy didn't have an out given the suspension. The ultimate in tax write offs, or Titanic cruises?

[CTTC]

In this case its sort of like hoping the Titanic will bob up to the surface sunday and steam into NY harbor. There's no money and LLEG owns nothing. If it did come back it should be renamed Phoenix LLC.

[Recovering Stock Junkie]

I would take a miracle maker and there hasn't been one of those in a few thousand years. I just refuse to give up totally. I still see a spark, even if it is very dim, very dim. What other choice do we shareholders have. Can't sell now as there is no buyers so I keep looking at my huge amount of shares and so few dollars that it is worth now. I don't give up on a miracle happening. Maybe I will win the Lotto tonight and not have to think about it anymore.