Universal Express Inc fka USXP

[Mighty_Mezz]

Excerpts from the Judge's ruling.

Summary judgment for the SEC is also clearly warranted on the claim that the
Organizational Defendants violated antifraud provisions of the federal securities law. These
defendants do not dispute that they created and issued press releases publicly announcing
hundreds of millions of dollars in financing commitments and heralding acquisitions of other
companies. Nor do they dispute that these statements were, as the SEC demonstrates
(see citations to record at P. R. 56.1 Stmt. against Organizational Ds. ¶¶ 91-156), at best
misleading and sometimes wholly fantastical.
...
Defendants provide no reason to think they would be able to rescue these unsupported
assertions from seeming flatly ludicrous if permitted to go to trial. Therefore, summary
judgment as to the Organizational Defendants’ liability for securities fraud is granted the SEC.
...
They committed these violations deliberately or at
least recklessly and on repeated occasions; they not only deny culpability but do so with
incredible and contorted arguments; and as the present CEO and general counsel to Universal
Express, Altomare and Gunderson remain in a position to commit possible violations in the
future. For these reasons, a permanent injunction is appropriate.
...
As CEO of a publicly held company, Altomare occupied and continues to occupy a
position of significant power, which he abused by repeatedly and brazenly committing fraud and
flouting investor-protecting registration requirements. He has not only opposed the SEC’s
request for summary judgment without pointing to a single piece of evidence sufficient to create
a genuine issue as to any material fact of his liability, but he has also had the chutzpah on an
overwhelming unfavorable record to seek summary judgment himself. The defendant’s
professional position and apparent refusal to acknowledge the types of conduct that violate
securities laws raise serious concerns that he will engage in such misconduct in the future.
...