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SEC Charges Detroit Area Man and His Company with Conducting a Pump and Dump Scheme

On December 10, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Randy A. Hamdan and a related entity, Oracle Consultants LLC, with carrying out a pump-and-dump scheme in the securities of CompuSonics Video Corporation. Through his trading entity, Hamdan generated illicit proceeds of approximately $30,000.

According to the Commission's Complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Hamdan, who lives in the Dearborn, Michigan area, carried out the pump-and-dump scheme by engaging in manipulative trading, conducting a fraudulent marketing campaign, and, by pretending to be a representative of CompuSonics, causing a news service to issue a false press release on behalf of CompuSonics. Through the phony press release and fraudulent marketing campaign, Hamdan disseminated false claims that CompuSonics had "reached an out-of-court settlement" regarding the company's patent portfolio and the phony press release added the claim that CompuSonics was "considering many options to bring back shareholder value," including a cash dividend and a stock buy-back program. The Complaint alleges that in order to conduct the scheme, Hamdan employed numerous tactics to hide his true identity, including a proxy internet server, an anonymous email service, fictitious contact information, and a prepaid cellphone.

The Complaint alleges that Hamdan and Oracle violated of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. As to both Hamdan and Oracle, the Commission is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, penalties, and a penny stock bar.

The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") for its assistance in this investigation.

SEC Complaint



http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2013/lr22892.htm