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SEC charges Florida transfer agent with defrauding investors
by Joseph Earnest July 24, 2014
Newscast Media WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has charged a Florida-based transfer agent and its owner with defrauding investors by using aggressive boiler room tactics to peddle worthless securities with promises of high returns or discounted prices.
Transfer agents are typically used by publicly-traded companies to keep track of the individuals and entities that own their stocks and bonds. The SEC alleges that Cecil Franklin Speight, whose firm International Stock Transfer Inc. (IST) was a registered transfer agent, abused the transfer agent function by creating and issuing fake securities certificates to both U.S. and international investors.
While investors collectively sent in millions of dollars thinking they were purchasing high-yield investments and discounted stock, they ended up receiving counterfeit certificates that Speight and IST fooled them into thinking were legitimate.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Speight.
"Speight brazenly misused his transfer agent authority to commit fraud by creating fake certificates and acting as if he was authorized by issuers to do so," said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. "His promise of high-yield investment returns and his use of attorneys to receive investor money were simply lures to take advantage of unsuspecting investors."
Click here to read or download SEC federal complaint. (pop-up)
Speight and IST agreed to settle the SEC’s charges. Speight will be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company and from participating in any penny stock offering. The court will determine monetary sanctions at a later date. Add Comments>>
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