Author: Mia

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Article: Naked Justice?

Article - Media, Publications

Naked Justice?

Liz Moyer, 29 August 2006

Louisiana State Attorney General Charles Foti is trying to force UBS, the Wall Street investment bank, to turn over vast quantities of information on its trading, stock lending and other activities related to shares of software firm Sedona.

The Louisiana Department of Justice filed documents in a state court Tuesday to compel UBS to hand over the information in ten days.

The state is probing naked short-selling, which is the practice of selling shares short without borrowing them. It is an issue that has already been raised in reference to Sedona Sedona. in an ongoing civil lawsuit against a number of brokers and hedge funds and in a Securities and Exchange Commission federal court case filed in April in New York against one brokerage and several individuals. Continue reading “Article: Naked Justice?”

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Article: Overstock.com dukes it out with short sellers

Article - Media, Publications

Overstock.com dukes it out with short sellers

The Associated Press, 12 June 2006

Most people buy stock hoping the price goes up, but hedge fund manager David Rocker was “shorting” shares of Utah-based Internet retailer Overstock.com Inc., betting the share price would decline.

Rocker’s fund was making a legal bet that Overstock shares in 2004 were overvalued and due for a correction. Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, however, sued, accusing New York-based Rocker Partners of collaborating on disparaging reports with the stock-research firm Gradient Analytics of Scottsdale, Ariz., while Rocker was shorting the shares. Continue reading “Article: Overstock.com dukes it out with short sellers”

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Article: Byrne caring and generous

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Byrne caring and generous

Deseret News, 29 May 2006

I read Lee Davidson’s annual article on the top political contributors in Utah. What should be written is a companion piece on how much money to charity and research these men and women give annually. The amount surpasses political donations by millions.

Mr. Davidson goes in great detail about Dr. Patrick Byrne of Overstock.com. The people of Utah should know about another side of Dr. Byrne’s generosity. Patrick gave $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Valley this year without us asking. Nor did he seek any acclaim or recognition. He did it because he cares about kids and the potential of every child. Continue reading “Article: Byrne caring and generous”

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Article: CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ Host Was Subpoenaed by SEC

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CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ Host Was Subpoenaed by SEC

A second financial news organization was subpoenaed for records in an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose chairman has put the subpoenas on hold amid controversy.

TheStreet.com and co-founder and major shareholder Jim Cramer were served subpoenas by the SEC about three weeks ago in connection with an inquiry into allegations of stock manipulation.

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Article: CFRN,Bud Burrell,attorney Ron Logan,’naked short’ penny stock scam,Phoenix,Arizona

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CFRN,Bud Burrell,attorney Ron Logan,’naked short’ penny stock scam,Phoenix,Arizona

Tony Ryals, 08 February 2006

Note ‘Bob O’Brien’,who refuses to identify himself, has threatened both Marc Cohodes a hedge fund manager and myself a defrauded investor in his scam on Yahhoo.com NFI and OSTK message boards. Continue reading “Article: CFRN,Bud Burrell,attorney Ron Logan,’naked short’ penny stock scam,Phoenix,Arizona”

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Article: Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne is waging an EXTRAORDINARY CAMPAIGN against short-sellers. The hedge fund guys say he has underperformed. He says they are tools of a sinister “SITH LORD.”

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Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne is waging an EXTRAORDINARY CAMPAIGN against short-sellers. The hedge fund guys say he has underperformed. He says they are tools of a sinister “SITH LORD.”

BETHANY MCLEAN, 14 November 2005

Even hardened denizens of Wall Street were shocked by a conference call that Patrick Byrne, the CEO of online retailer Overstock.com, held on Aug. 12. “I want to get something off my chest,” Byrne announced. Then he launched into a rant about a “miscreants ball” in which he mentioned hedge funds, journalists, investigators, trial lawyers, the SEC, and even Eliot Spitzer. “I believe there’s been a plan since we were in our teens to destroy our stock, drive it down to $6–$10 … and even a plan for how the company would then get whacked up.” The “designated final owner,” who provided the “orchestration,” was someone Byrne dubbed the “Sith Lord,” a person he refused to identify other than to say that “he’s one of the master criminals from the 1980s.” And that’s just the basic outline. There was more. As Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor, later wrote on his blog, “Never before in the history of Wall Street has a single conference call mentioned the following topics: miscreants, an unnamed Sith Lord he hopes the feds will bury under a prison, gay bathhouses, whether he is gay, does cocaine, both or neither, and an obligatory ‘not that there is anything wrong with that,’ phone taps, phone lines misdirected to Mexico, arrested reporters, payoffs, conspiracies, crooks, egomaniacs, fools, paranoia, which newspapers are shills and for who, payoffs, money laundering, his Irish temper, false identities, threats, intimidation, and private investigators. All in 61 minutes.” Cuban is now short 20,000 shares of Overstock. Continue reading “Article: Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne is waging an EXTRAORDINARY CAMPAIGN against short-sellers. The hedge fund guys say he has underperformed. He says they are tools of a sinister “SITH LORD.””

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Article: Overstock’s Three Affidavits

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Overstock’s Three Affidavits

John Reeves, 05 October 2005

The nearly endless fount of mirth surrounding Patrick Byrne’s lawsuit against Gradient Analytics, short-selling hedge fund Rocker Partners, and others is obscuring a case with fairly broad implications for security analysis, First Amendment rights, and the credibility of our public markets.

While fanciful visions of Sith Lords and evil shorting hordes make for good copy, this is a lawsuit that is about something more substantive: an accusation that Gradient and Rocker resorted to unfair business practices to knock down Overstock.com’s (NASDAQ:OSTK) share price. Too much coverage has been spent plumbing the entertainment value, and nearly none on the facts of the suit itself. Continue reading “Article: Overstock’s Three Affidavits”

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Article: STATE PRESSES FRAUD PROBE

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STATE PRESSES FRAUD PROBE

DIANE LEVICK, 20 October 2004

Connecticut stepped up its own probe of insurance misconduct Tuesday as Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, convinced that there is bid-rigging and other fraud here, issued at least 20 subpoenas to insurance companies and brokers.

Blumenthal’s latest move follows a lawsuit last week and arrests by the New York attorney general’s office, which is investigating manipulation of bids and questionable payment practices involving insurance brokers and companies. Continue reading “Article: STATE PRESSES FRAUD PROBE”

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Article: Endovasc Ltd. Inc. v. JP Turner & Co. LLC et al: Complaint

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Endovasc Ltd. Inc. v. JP Turner & Co. LLC et al: Complaint

Smarter Legal Research, 30 March 2004

Complaint in Endovasc Ltd. Inc. v. J.P. Turner & Co. LLC, KCM Group LLC, Kingdon Capital Management LLC, The Keshet Fund LP, Sichenzia Ross & Friedman LLP, Keshet LP, Nesher Ltd., Talbiya B. Investments Ltd., Balmore Funds SA, David Grin, LH Financial Services Corp., Laurus Master Fund Ltd., Laurus Capital Management LLC, Celeste Trust Reg, and Patrick Power at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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Article: COURTS WIELD HARSH PENALTIES FOR ABUSING THE DISCOVERY PROCESS

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COURTS WIELD HARSH PENALTIES FOR ABUSING THE DISCOVERY PROCESS

Evelyn Alfonso , 30 January 2004

A federal district court last summer issued the ultimate sanction of dismissal due to plaintiffs= abuse of the discovery process and persistent refusal to abide by the court=s discovery orders. Internet Law Library, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management, 2003 WL 21537782 (S.D.N.Y. July 8, 2003). ITIS, Inc., formerly known as Internet Law Library, Inc., and its CEO, along with several of its shareholders, brought an action against defendant investors alleging their involvement in a scheme to defraud plaintiffs and to manipulate downward the price of ITIS stock in
violation of federal and state laws. Internet Law Library, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management, 223 F. Supp. 2d 474, 477-78 (S.D.N.Y. 2002).

Judge Robert L. Carter of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the suit with prejudice as to all defendants due to plaintiffs= repeated attempts to expand and misconstrue the court=s orders on the ground that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2)(C) authorizes dismissal of a plaintiff=s complaint along with other sanctions if a party Afails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery.@ Internet Law Library, 2003 WL 21537782 at *3. While dismissal is indeed the harshest sanction available to a court, it is appropriate where a party who has disobeyed an order has done so willfully, in bad faith, or is in some way at fault. Id. The court held that plaintiffs= failure to respect the court and its orders justifies dismissal of the complaint as both a remedy and a deterrent to future misconduct. Id. at *4. Continue reading “Article: COURTS WIELD HARSH PENALTIES FOR ABUSING THE DISCOVERY PROCESS”

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Article: Endovasc Ltd., Inc. v. J. P. Turner Co., LLC

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Endovasc Ltd., Inc. v. J. P. Turner Co., LLC

OffshoreAlert, 11 September 2002

Plaintiff, Endovasc Ltd., Inc. (“Endovasc” or “Plaintiff”, brings this action asserting in their Second Amended Complaint (the “Complaint” or “Compl.”) that they were injured by the fraudulent acts of defendants J.P. Turner Co., LLC (“JP Turner”), KCM Group LLC (“KCM”), The Keshet Fund, L.P. “Keshet Fund”), Keshet, LP (“Keshet”), Nesher, Ltd. (“Nesher”), Talbiya B. Investments, Ltd. (“Talbiya”), Balmore Funds S.A. (“Balmore”), David Grin (“Grin”), LH Financial Services Corp. “LH”), Laurus Master Fund, Ltd. (“Laurus Master Fund”), Laurus Capital Management, LLC (“Laurus Capital”), Celeste Trust Reg.”Celeste’, Patrick Power; “Power”), and John Clark (“Clark”) (collectively, “Defendants”), in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) (“Section 10(b)”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (“Rule 10b-5”) and Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act (“Section 20(a)”), 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a).

Endovasc also asserts claims for common law fraud and deceit, civil conspiracy to defraud, breach of contract, and restitution under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint in its entirety on various grounds and for sanctions under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motions to dismiss are granted, and their motions for sanctions denied.

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Article: $300M Stock Manipulation Suit Goes Forward

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$300M Stock Manipulation Suit Goes Forward

Mark Hamblett, 30 July 2002

Internet Law Library Inc.’s allegation that it was the victim of “death spiral financing” by defendants who have a long history of stock manipulation states a claim under federal securities laws and will not be dismissed, a federal judge in New York has ruled.

Judge Robert L. Carter for the Southern District of New York rejected motions to dismiss brought by Southridge Capital Management and Cootes Drive LLC, which deny their agents violated a promise to refrain from short-selling shares of Internet Law Library immediately after agreeing to provide $28 million in financing.

Internet Law Library, now known as ITIS Inc. (OTC BB:ITII.OB – News), owns Internet sites specializing in legal research and litigation support services.

The company claims that, in spring 2000, it negotiated with Southridge for capital of up to $28 million, consisting of a $25 million equity line agreement and a $3 million convertible preferred stock purchase that ultimately triggered the lawsuit, Internet Law Library v. Southridge Capital Management, 01 Civ. 6600.

The company alleged that Southridge and its agents, Steve Hicks, Dan Pickett and Christy Constabile, promised to refrain from selling ITIS stock for one year after the closing, and also promised not to manipulate the stock to depress its price.

ITIS Chief Executive Hunter M.A. Carr repeatedly asked Southridge and its agents about his concern on short-selling, and was told several times that Southridge would not engage in the practice. Carr claimed he relied on these representations when he signed the stock purchase agreement on May 11, 2000, with Cootes Drive, a company that replaced Southridge as a signatory at the last minute.
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Article: Money laundering in Russia: legislative highlights

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Money laundering in Russia: legislative highlights

CMS Legal, 17 April 2002

Money laundering as it is understood in most countries within the European Union, and in particular, in the United Kingdom, is a relatively new concept for Russian economic regulation. While the laundering of proceeds from crime undoubtedly went on during the Soviet and Perestroika eras, its prevention has only recently become part of the official policy of the Russian Government. Continue reading “Article: Money laundering in Russia: legislative highlights”

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Article: Internet Law Library, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management, LLC

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Internet Law Library, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management, LLC

Smarter Legal Research, 02 February 2002

On January 12, 2001, Internet Law brought suit against Cootes Drive in the Southern District of Texas (the ” Internet Law action” ), the subject of which is a series of agreements including a Stock Purchase Agreement entered into by Cootes Drive with Internet Law and in which Cootes Drive agreed to provide capital to Internet Law through two vehicles, a $3 million convertible preferred stock purchase and a $25 million equity line agreement. The Stock Purchase Agreement specified New York as the exclusive forum for all litigation between the parties.

The gravamen of the complaint, later amended on February 12, 2001, was that Cootes Drive engaged in short-selling and market manipulation of Internet Law’s stock, artificially depressing the price of the stock to a level at which Cootes Drive would no longer be required to provide funding under the equity line pursuant to a provision in the Stock Purchase Agreement that conditioned funding on Internet Law’s stock trading above a specific price. As such, Internet Law alleges that Cootes Drive committed, inter alia, violations of securities laws, both federal and state, common law fraud and fraud in the inducement, and unlawful conspiracy. Continue reading “Article: Internet Law Library, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management, LLC”

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