Amyott named in a SEC lawsuit against one of his business cohorts. Amyott could be next. jmo
SEC seeking $11.1-million (U.S.) from Boock 2012-04-17 14:33 ET - Street Wire by Mike Caswell
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a motion seeking $8.2-million in disgorgement and $2.9-million in civil penalties for Irwin Boock, 55, the Toronto area man charged in a corporate hijacking case. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The SEC claims that he was the architect and ringleader of a multimillion-dollar scheme to take control of inactive pink sheets listings between 2003 and 2007, which he then sold as shells.
The $8.2-million disgorgement order, should the judge grant it, would be jointly payable by Mr. Boock and others charged for the hijackings. These include Jason Wong, an Ontario man who helped run a transfer agency that supported the scheme, and Stanton DeFreitas, an Ontario resident who helped sell shares. In addition to the disgorgement, the SEC is seeking civil penalties of $1.56-million for Mr. Wong and $130,000 for Mr. DeFreitas. The SEC is also asking that the judge permanently ban them and Mr. Boock from penny stocks and enter an injunction barring future violations.
The penalty request comes 2-1/2 years after the SEC initially charged the men. It claimed that they improperly took control of 43 inactive public companies using false paperwork and bogus corporate resolutions. They then sold the companies as shells, profiting from both the sale of control and from subsequent share sales, the regulator said. One of the companies went on to become Toronto Stock Exchange listing Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. and another became Surrey-based World Hockey Association Corp. The SEC listed one of the scheme's substantial customers as Quebec resident Jean-Francois Amyot, who paid $1-million for 10 or 12 shells. (The SEC did not accuse Mr. Amyot, Paramount Gold or World Hockey of any wrongdoing.)
While Mr. Boock faces substantial penalties in the U.S. for the scheme, he has
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