CKYS SEC Charges Cyberkey, CEO Over Phony Homeland Security Deal
Last Update: 3/20/2007 10:23:07 AM
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged
Cyberkey Solutions Inc. (CKYS) and its chief executive with selling stock to
investors by falsely claiming that the electronic-device maker had won a $25
million contract from the Department of Homeland Security.
The SEC filed fraud charges in federal court in Pennsylvania against James Plant,
the CEO, and the St. George, Utah, company. Regulators said that the scheme
started in November 2005 and continued through Monday, allowing Cyberkey to raise
at least $1.5 million. Attorneys for the defendants couldn't immediately be
reached.
"The perpetrators of this scheme carried out an extensive fraud and even went so
far as to make false claims about the Department of Homeland Security - an Agency
whose mission is critical to all Americans," said SEC enforcement director Linda
Thomsen in a statement. "Our response to this kind of conduct will always be
swift and firm."
Plant was arrested on March 13 in Utah by the FBI in a related criminal case, the
SEC said.
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654;
Siobhan.Hughes@dowjones.com
