CMKM Diamonds Inc. (fka CMKX)

[rabblerouser]

SEC halts Kimber-X Resources

2007-12-06 17:33 ET - Street Wire

Also Street Wire (U-*SEC) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Also Street Wire (U-KRXR) Kimber Resources Inc

by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Canada's top securities regulator, has halted Kimber-X Resources Inc., a Vancouver-linked spam stock that had a $300-million market cap in June. The SEC cited questions about the accuracy of the company's news releases and its disclosure of stock transactions by insiders, among other things.

While the SEC has not released many other details, the company's disclosure raises questions about how the stock, which trades on the pink sheets, reached a high of $1.40 this June. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

In its most recent balance sheet, dated June 30, 2007, Kimber-X reported no assets and quarterly expenditures of just $6,000. In addition, it had 215,474,251 shares outstanding.

Until this August, Kimber-X's only potential asset was a proposed deal for a diamond prospect in Saskatchewan. The company has said little about any past work on that ground, and its news releases mentioned no sampling or drilling. Kimber-X has since signed a formal agreement to earn a 55-per-cent interest in the property on undisclosed terms, but has not completed any exploration.

The company's president, Vancouver resident James Neil, offered no explanation for the halt. "We can back up everything," he said. Stockwatch contacted him at his other job, as the investor relations contact for CIBT Education Group Inc., a TSX Venture Exchange company.

Mr. Neil would not speculate on how Kimber-X's price rose so much earlier this year. "We have nothing to do with any junk mail," he said. When asked for details on the company's ownership, he said he had no comment. In June, regulatory filings disclosed that he owned 200 million of Kimber-X's 215 million shares.

Although Kimber-X has Mr. Neil as its only director, only officer and largest shareholder, it lists an address in Delaware. Mr. Neil said he is only the acting president, and he would not say who controls the company.

Mr. Neil refused to speculate on why the SEC selected his company out of the hundreds of spam stocks. "I don't really have any comment for you Mike," he said.

In February, spam touting Kimber-X started appearing in inboxes, and in October it was registered by the website www.spamnation.info. Containing nonsense like "Ready for a run" and "KRXR.PK is growing very fast," the e-mails projected a price of $3.75 for the stock.

Unfortunately for investors, the stock has since gone in the opposite direction; it closed on Wednesday at 16 cents. In March, Kimber-X issued a news release denying anything to do with the spam.

Tout sheets

In addition to spam, at least one tout sheet has been writing about Kimber-X. In September, Market Advisors Research of Nebraska assigned the stock a $2.05 target. It said the company was working near the Fort a la Corne kimberlite field and that about 75 per cent of that area's kimberlites contain diamonds.

According to the fine print, Market Advisors Inc. accepted $3,000 from a company called Alex Consulting Inc. to prepare the report.

This July, Alex Consulting again paid for a favourable research report, this time paying $14,000 to Wall Street News Alert. Like the other tout sheet, Wall Street News said the company's Fort a la Corne joint venture could boost the stock.

Operation Spamalot

Kimber-X is the latest spam stock halted by the SEC in its 10-month crackdown on such companies. This March, the regulator halted 35 stocks with junk e-mail problems, and 14 of them had links to Vancouver. The suspensions, issued as part of Operation Spamalot, were aimed at reducing the estimated 100 million stock spams sent each week.

In nearly every case, the companies denied having anything to do with the spam.

Since then, many of those stocks have collapsed. Goldmark Industries Inc., which had a 52-week high of 42.5 cents, last traded at one cent. Another, Koko Petroleum Ltd., once traded at $2.50, but now trades at two cents.

Kimber-X's suspension, like earlier Spamalot halts, lasts for 15 days. In making the suspension, the SEC acknowledged the assistance of the Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission.

http://www.stockwatch.com/swnet/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=Z-C:*SEC-1440355&symbol=*SEC&news_region=C