Do you wonder how hard the government is really going to try to liquidate the house, etc and distribute it amongst the shareholders? I am laughing as I write that, maybe a big fine to pay for their own selves?
SEC doesn't care about THE INVESTOR, and generally/usually leaves these criminals loose in society. If not for the TV shows, I doubt anything would have happened here.
Good post, though...
Criminal charges coming? Still no confirmation that the CEO of FONU and its board chairman Joel Jake Shapiro have resigned, yet.
We do know that the CEO is no longer authorized to be an officer (CEO) or director of any public company.
and
Shapiro allegedly misappropriated company funds for personal use after becoming CEO and lived in a house worth nearly a million dollars that was paid for by the company.
The SEC is now saying it was a fraudulent scheme. A 60-page document outlines 14 different counts, with almost half related to fraud or aiding and abetting fraud.
Local attorney Charles Bowen represents many former employees who are still owed money. He's been working with investigators for the last two years.
"They had a lot of information in there. That is a result of a lot of hard work; a lot of investigation. This is not something they ran into half-cocked," Bowen said.
We first told you back in May that several sources confirmed the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Shapiro and Moon River Studios, formerly Medient, after dozens of former employees say they went unpaid and were owed thousands of dollars.
The SEC finally released their findings last week, naming Shapiro and two other top officials, Manu Kumaren and Roger Miguel. They are accused of insider trading, fabricating promissory notes, issuing unregistered securities and making false statements.
Investigators are now offering some insight into what may have happened to $6 million the company lost in 2015 while it only made $18,000. The SEC complaint states the defendants financially benefitted from a fraudulent scheme, using company money to spend an average of $1,700 a day on travel and personal expenses.
All while former employees, like Geran Daniels, went unpaid.
"A couple of times, checks were late. The last couple of months, there was no pay," he said.
Daniels says it's been two years since he worked for Moon River, and he's still owed more than $6,000 In recent months, Bowen started to fear the SEC investigation may never end. In fact, he was preparing to file a class action lawsuit., which would have included more than 30 clients, including Daniels. But now, he may not have to.
"So we are in a position now to where we can sit back and hopefully the government can take care of the vast majority of these individuals by requiring the people named in this lawsuit to pay restitution to them," said Bowen.
However, if this remains a civil case, their chances are slim. The SEC doesn't have the authority to file criminal charges, but since the U.S. District attorney is listed as being involved in the case, that could mean criminal charges will follow. Bowen says he can only hope that's the case for his clients.
"At that point, if it's a condition of your parole, you either pay or you go to jail."
