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Seriously?
do you not realize that you posted a press release link from the US Attorneys Office from 6 years ago and not the one the pertaining to the text that you posted?
and the the other link you posted was from the SEC Complaint and was not the link for the US Attorney press release text that you posted
geesh
did fall you just didn't read it on the bottom of the post
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=149898495
here is the actually DOJ press release and link, including the date, which you failed to post:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/ex-beverly-hills-stockbroker-convicted-securities-fraud-200-million-portfolio-pumping
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Central District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 12, 2019
Ex-Beverly Hills Stockbroker Convicted of Securities Fraud in $200 Million Portfolio-Pumping Stock Manipulation Scheme
LOS ANGELES – A former Beverly Hills stockbroker who worked with fugitive hedge fund manager Florian Homm was found guilty by a jury late this afternoon of 18 federal criminal charges for participating in a stock manipulation scheme designed to pump up the reported profits of hedge funds that fraudulently caused investors approximately $200 million in losses.
Todd Ficeto, 52, of Marion, Ohio, was found guilty after a 17-day jury trial. The jury found Ficeto guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, seven counts of securities fraud, two counts of investment adviser fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, five counts of unlawful money transactions, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of making false statements.
Ficeto was the president of a Beverly Hills-based broker-dealer, Hunter World Markets, which he co-owned with Florian Wilhelm Jürgen Homm, who was first indicted in March 2013 on charges of securities fraud and wire fraud after he was arrested in Italy. Homm later fled to Germany and is a fugitive from justice. Homm was the founder and chief investment officer of Absolute Capital Management Holdings (ACMH), a Cayman Islands-based investment advisor that operated from Palma de Majorca in Spain and managed eight hedge funds (the Absolute Funds).
Between September 2004 and September 2007, Homm directed the Absolute Funds to buy billions of shares of thinly traded, United States-based “penny stocks” through Hunter World Markets that Ficeto located and brought to Homm through investment banking deals. Ficeto then facilitated the manipulative stock purchases and caused millions of shares of the same penny stocks to be given to Homm, Hunter World Markets, and CIC Global Capital, which was controlled by co-defendants Colin Heatherington, of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada; and Craig Heatherington, of Queensland, Australia.
Ficeto, Homm, and other co-conspirators fraudulently manipulated the penny stocks to inflate and artificially prop up their prices to exaggerate the purported profitability of the Absolute Capital hedge funds. As a result, the co-conspirators were able to sell their own shares of the penny stocks at the inflated prices to the hedge funds. The stock price inflation also served to fraudulently overstate the performance of the hedge funds which, in turn, generated substantial performance fees and other compensation for defendant Homm and his co-conspirators. The co-conspirators then used the inflated performance figures to induce investments from unsuspecting victim-investors.
Ficeto and his co-conspirators worked together in an elaborate conspiracy to launder the illicit proceeds throughout the world.
Ficeto also engaged in unlawful monetary transactions by sending nearly $10 million of illicit proceeds to an account in the Cook Islands days before his testimony before the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then lied to the SEC about the Cook Islands account. Ficeto also used a hedge fund called the Hunter Fund, in which the Absolute Funds invested and also was used to conceal investments by the Absolute Funds in the penny stocks and to manipulate the stock market.
As the scheme unraveled, Homm abruptly resigned from the firm in the middle of the night on September 18, 2007, according to court documents.
In March 2013, Homm was taken into custody in Italy after being arrested at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Homm was arrested pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant sought by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles after they filed a criminal complaint containing charges related to the alleged fraud scheme. The United States sought Homm’s extradition to the United States and he was ordered extradited by the Italian Ministry of Justice, but Homm ultimately was released and is believed to have fled to Germany, where he remains a fugitive.
Colin Heatherington is in Canada and facing extradition to the United States.
United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips has scheduled an October 7 sentencing hearing for Ficeto. Each charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud carry a statutory maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. The money laundering charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Each charge of investment adviser fraud, obstruction of justice, and false statements carry a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison.
This matter was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial and Regulatory Authority provided assistance to the FBI’s investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cassie D. Palmer of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, Scott Paetty of the Major Frauds Section, and Ian V. Yanniello of the General Crimes Section.
Component(s):
USAO - California, Central
Contact:
Ciaran McEvoy
Public Information Officer
United States Attorney’s Office
Central District of California (Los Angeles)
(213) 894-4465
Press Release Number:
19-145
Ex-Beverly Hills Stockbroker Convicted of Securities Fraud in $200 Million Portfolio-Pumping Stock Manipulation Scheme
LOS ANGELES – A former Beverly Hills stockbroker who worked with fugitive hedge fund manager Florian Homm was found guilty by a jury late this afternoon of 18 federal criminal charges for participating in a stock manipulation scheme designed to pump up the reported profits of hedge funds that fraudulently caused investors approximately $200 million in losses.
Todd Ficeto, 52, of Marion, Ohio, was found guilty after a 17-day jury trial. The jury found Ficeto guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, seven counts of securities fraud, two counts of investment adviser fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, five counts of unlawful money transactions, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of making false statements.
Ficeto was the president of a Beverly Hills-based broker-dealer, Hunter World Markets, which he co-owned with Florian Wilhelm Jürgen Homm, who was first indicted in March 2013 on charges of securities fraud and wire fraud after he was arrested in Italy. Homm later fled to Germany and is a fugitive from justice. Homm was the founder and chief investment officer of Absolute Capital Management Holdings (ACMH), a Cayman Islands-based investment advisor that operated from Palma de Majorca in Spain and managed eight hedge funds (the Absolute Funds).
Between September 2004 and September 2007, Homm directed the Absolute Funds to buy billions of shares of thinly traded, United States-based “penny stocks” through Hunter World Markets that Ficeto located and brought to Homm through investment banking deals. Ficeto then facilitated the manipulative stock purchases and caused millions of shares of the same penny stocks to be given to Homm, Hunter World Markets, and CIC Global Capital, which was controlled by co-defendants Colin Heatherington, of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada; and Craig Heatherington, of Queensland, Australia.
Ficeto, Homm, and other co-conspirators fraudulently manipulated the penny stocks to inflate and artificially prop up their prices to exaggerate the purported profitability of the Absolute Capital hedge funds. As a result, the co-conspirators were able to sell their own shares of the penny stocks at the inflated prices to the hedge funds. The stock price inflation also served to fraudulently overstate the performance of the hedge funds which, in turn, generated substantial performance fees and other compensation for defendant Homm and his co-conspirators. The co-conspirators then used the inflated performance figures to induce investments from unsuspecting victim-investors.
Ficeto and his co-conspirators worked together in an elaborate conspiracy to launder the illicit proceeds throughout the world.
Ficeto also engaged in unlawful monetary transactions by sending nearly $10 million of illicit proceeds to an account in the Cook Islands days before his testimony before the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then lied to the SEC about the Cook Islands account. Ficeto also used a hedge fund called the Hunter Fund, in which the Absolute Funds invested and also was used to conceal investments by the Absolute Funds in the penny stocks and to manipulate the stock market.
As the scheme unraveled, Homm abruptly resigned from the firm in the middle of the night on September 18, 2007, according to court documents.
In March 2013, Homm was taken into custody in Italy after being arrested at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Homm was arrested pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant sought by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles after they filed a criminal complaint containing charges related to the alleged fraud scheme. The United States sought Homm’s extradition to the United States and he was ordered extradited by the Italian Ministry of Justice, but Homm ultimately was released and is believed to have fled to Germany, where he remains a fugitive.
Colin Heatherington is in Canada and facing extradition to the United States.
United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips has scheduled an October 7 sentencing hearing for Ficeto. Each charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud carry a statutory maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. The money laundering charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Each charge of investment adviser fraud, obstruction of justice, and false statements carry a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison.
This matter was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial and Regulatory Authority provided assistance to the FBI’s investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cassie D. Palmer of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, Scott Paetty of the Major Frauds Section, and Ian V. Yanniello of the General Crimes Section.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/former-hedge-fund-manager-recently-arrested-italy-after-being-run-five-years-named
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2011/comp21865.pdf
Now someone buy this shell !
For sure!
Interesting stuff, always good to see changes in any Industry. New company's coming on board and other re-positioning help to shake it up, which can open up new potential for themselves and others.
Owners of UFC are in "advanced talks to sell the business" & have received at least 4 bids; final offer expected to be $3.5B to $4B - ESPN
one could wish ....lol
Any news about this lawsuit it soul be nice if they were made to pay us the money they stole from us back .
Home > Boards > US OTC > Delisted > ProElite, Inc. (fka PELE)
Very interesting for sure. Some very big names tied to it with a ton of the very best and the most powerful Anti-Trust Law Firms in the world representing them. All I can say is Wow! Looks to be good for the Fighters and definitely for the Industry overall.
they should include Paul Feller and his cohort con-men in this lawsuit.
Including the braggarts that posted the BS here about this and the SMDI fraud....
think?
Press release: Mixed Martial Arts Fighters File Class-Action Lawsuit Against Ultimate Fighting Championship Alleging Illegal Market Monopolization
(SAN JOSE, Calif. –Dec. 16, 2014) Three current and former high-profile Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters filed a multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit today against the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization, accusing the $2-billion outfit of illegally maintaining monopoly and monoposony power by systematically eliminating competition from rival promoters, artificially suppressing fighters’ earnings from bouts and merchandising and marketing activities through restrictive contracting and other exclusionary practices.
The civil action – Cung Le, et al. v. Zuffa, LLC, d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC – filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, seeks treble damages and injunctive relief under the Sherman Antitrust Act stemming from the UFC’s alleged “over-arching, anti-competitive scheme to enhance its monopoly power” in the market for promotion of live Elite Professional MMA bouts, and monopsony power in the market for live Elite Professional MMA Fighter services in the U.S. Monopsony refers to when there are many “sellers” and few “buyers” in the marketplace.
The lawsuit filed by fighters Cung Le, Nathan Quarry and Jon Fitch, who seek to represent a class of similarly situated current and former UFC professional combatants, alleges that the plaintiffs are victims of the UFC’s illegal scheme to eliminate its competition in the sport of MMA and suppress compensation for UFC Fighters from bouts and fighter identities and likenesses.
According to plaintiffs’ counsel Benjamin Brown, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, “The UFC was built on the battered bodies of MMA fighters who have left their blood and sweat in the Octagon. Those fighters are entitled to the benefits of a competitive market for their talents.”
The lawsuit targets defendants Zuffa LLC, the Las Vegas-based company that conducts business as the UFC. Zuffa is primarily owned by billionaires Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, along with the UFC’s front-man, President Dana White. White has publicly boasted about the success of the UFC’s alleged illegal scheme, allegedly claiming that “there is no competition” because “I am the grim reaper[.]”
The lawsuit claims that the UFC’s alleged anti-competitive acts, in particular its actions over a period of years, have made and maintained the UFC as the only option for MMA fighters who want to earn a viable living in the profession.
“All UFC Fighters are paid a mere fraction of what they would make in a competitive market,” said Brown. “Rather than earning paydays comparable to boxers – a sport with many natural parallels – MMA fighters go substantially under-compensated despite the punishing nature of their profession.”
Above all, the lawsuit alleges that the UFC prevents fighters from working with other MMA promoters, mounting self-promotional efforts of their own or signing with outside sponsors – monopolistic practices that suppress fighters’ incomes.
According to named plaintiff Cung Le, of San Jose, Calif., an internationally acclaimed MMA combatant, “Because of the UFC’s coercive practices, competitive market forces have been strangled, future earnings power of the athletes is stripped away, and purses to the fighters are artificially depressed.”
Plaintiffs’ co-counsel and sports law specialist Robert Maysey, of Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC, added, “As a result of the UFC’s illegal conduct, they have become the only game in town and locked down the entire sport. It is ironic that the fiercest combat athletes in the world have, until now, been powerless to take on the UFC.”
The lawsuit alleges that the UFC has pursued an aggressive strategy of depriving key inputs to potential rival promoters or merging with them to maintain its monopoly position. The complaint alleges “exclusionary scheme” to impair and foreclose competition, whereby the UFC deprives potential competitors in the fight promotion market access to elite MMA fighters, premium live event venues and sponsors.
According to plaintiffs’ co-counsel Michael Dell’Angelo, of Berger & Montague, P.C., “the lawsuit alleges that the UFC has engaged in an illegal scheme to eliminate competition from rival MMA promoters by systematically preventing rivals from gaining access to ingredients critical to successful MMA promotions, including by imposing extreme restrictions on UFC Fighters’ ability to fight for rivals during and after their tenure with the UFC. The UFC also takes the rights to fighters’ names and likenesses in perpetuity. As a result of the UFC’s scheme, we allege that UFC Fighters are paid fraction of what they would earn in a competitive marketplace.”
The lawsuit alleges that as a result of these and other anti-competitive acts, including the UFC’s acquisition of rival Strikeforce, the UFC has maintained control of more than 90 percent of the revenue derived from live MMA bouts nationwide.
The lawsuit also alleges that the UFC has retaliated against fighters who have worked with or who have announced intentions to work with rival promoters or sponsors by refusing to book their bouts and/or eliminating them from key UFC promotional activities such as advertising campaigns and video games.
“UFC’s threats are taken seriously by fighters because they know that a UFC ban will substantially diminish, if not end, their ability to earn a living at their chosen profession,” said plaintiffs’ co-counsel Joseph Saveri of Saveri Law Firm, Inc. “These MMA professionals deserve the right to take back their careers.
The plaintiffs are represented by nationally respected antitrust litigation firms Cohen Milstein Sellers and Toll PLLC, Berger & Montague, P.C., Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc. and Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC.
For more information about Cung Le, et al v. Zuffa, LLC, d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship and UFC, visit http://www.cohenmilstein.com/news.php?NewsID=742.
wonder if that con was close with the feller con.....
The Hedge Fund Manager On The FBI’s Most Wanted List
http://www.hedgeco.net/news/08/2014/the-hedge-fund-manager-on-the-fbis-most-wanted-list.html
what does bellator or anything have to do with this defunct revoked zero?
You guys at the very very best get a teeny tiny bit of the new pos Restorgenox which is simply a feller re incarnated and blueprinted no revenue joke
What part of getting had is not understood here?
I think there is still a chance we will see something out of this one at some point. I know many of us are hoping and there are good reasons to believe we may see something and hopefully in not too long, but it is truly a waiting game.
Who knows now with Bellator shaking things up with huge Viacom backing and posturing for an even bigger swing into the market, this may jar the whole Industry and you never know could wake a previous sleeping giant. Interest in Bellator is only growing with over 120 shows behind them and WSOF on NBC has been only been growing as well. Lots of room for growth and many industry people as well as fans beginning to clamor for the days of old beyond 1 show trying to control the entire Industry with almost entirely only self Promotion of itself rather than the guys doing the Fighting and then putting on a ton of at best mediocre Fights with a handful of fights that matter.
Hope things are well for you as well. I hope everyone else are doing well as well.
Peace,
CB
Just checking back in on the PELE board...
Stupid question... but what are the odds this thing will ever be active again? Any chance we'll ever have access to our funds... or is this basically just dead forgotten lost money for many of us? :-/
Hope everyone is doing well!
-CP
That is quite an interesting development for Bellator!
any update here on paul feller the con man and everyone else involved? CNBC special coming up on these frauds called "Salary Stealers" I heard ;)
FRAUDS! each and every one of em. Monayhen, etc and all the scam artist pumpers. !
KERSPLATTED TO ZERO LIKE IT DESERVED
what exactly is going on here? This is a delisted fellered pos scam that no one will even get ONE CENT BACK ON because of SCAM ARTIST PUMPERS.
Get it yet, scammer?
The one-night tournament is returning to MMA, but is that a good thing?
http://msn.foxsports.com/ufc/haymaker/the-one-night-tournament-is-returning-to-mma-but-is-that-a-good-thing-051414
kersplat! nice job!
how's this revoked zeroed sham doing? Maybe some bios would help?
if someone was smart they would have reinstated this stock into a fake or not fake marijuana bubble. to bad they probably missed the boat on that one.
You need to call your broker and tell them that you have a worthless stock that you need to write-off. They'll have a form for that.
You're one of the lucky ones if you only have 40k shares. I had many more than that and I know that is a "drop in the bucket" compared to some of the others here.
So do I need to call my broker to sell the shares? I guess I could use the loss of Pele to offset a few gains. Is there any reason to just do nothing with the shares?
your screwed... you can't sell your shares or buy any. this stock is not tradeable. just rememebr who the pumpers were so u dont get fellered again!
What should I do with the 40K shares I currently own through e*trade? I tried to go into my account to sell and it shows I'm unable to. What has everyone else done with their shares?
::sigh:: So much hope, so much hype behind the ProElite project... and here we are. Taking a huge L.... PELE
Tough lesson learned.
-CP
great news! The pele fraud gets 5% or less (probably much much less) of the new and unimproved SMDID after the reverse!
So basically, zero as I have explained before
Great job team!
The Secret History of Strikeforce - Part 1
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/3/10/5489670/secret-history-strikeforce-part-1-Scott-Coker-Frank-Shamrock-Cung-Le-PRIDE-MMA
how's everybody doing here in this feller sham? Did we all figure out yet you're getting zilch?
Time to visit the feller fraud and teach him a lesson? One can only dream....
watch the fellered buy stock in his new company and lose again. fools never learn anything even when they get scamed.
so he slick-tounged his way into another stock, sweet! And there's meat on those bones!
Fellering a comin!
Any idea when the SEC will bar him? I suspect never as they rarely catch small time frauds like him, I expect the new one to follow the same path as these two: BS PRs, crappy volume and slow deaths all the while Feller and scam artist cohorts suck every last penny as salaries in their bs shells
thoughts?
You're certainly still not a supporter I hope
funny you should ask! go get him
Paul Feller Joins Envision Solar International, Inc. as Independent Director
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=EVSI
so anybody know what Paul Feller's next scam is? Be nice to jail that scam artist
the board intro is a true reflection of the stock now, finally. lol
well being that the entire company is gone I'm pretty certain Chou is gone too. Not that it matters anymore since SMDI is basically worthless just like this scam
Great job team bio!
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