SEC GETS JUDGMENTS IN CHINA VOICE HOLDINGS CORP. SCHEME ALLEGING A PONZI GAME

October 4, 2011
The following excerpt is from the SEC website:
“On October 4, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the Honorable Reed O’Connor, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, recently entered orders permanently enjoining multiple defendants in a case involving the co-founder of China Voice Holding Corp.
Without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission’s complaint, Alex Dowlatshahi and Christopher Mills consented to the entry of judgments that permanently enjoin them from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition, companies owned and controlled by Dowlatshahi and Mills, including Defendants Integrity Driven Network Corp., Lucrative Enterprises Corp., Synergetic Solutions LLC, Silver Summit Holdings LLC, and Sleeping Bear LLC, were permanently enjoined from violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The judgments also provide that upon motion of the Commission, the Court may order disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest thereon, and civil penalties in amounts the Court deems appropriate. The judgments were entered on August 31, 2011, and September 19, 2011.
On September 23, 2011, Defendant Ilya Drapkin was permanently enjoined from violating Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act. In addition the judgment permanently bars Drapkin from participating in the offer or sale of penny stocks and provides that, upon motion of the Commission, the Court shall order disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest thereon, and civil penalties in amounts the Court deems appropriate. Drapkin’s companies, Defendants MG TK Corp. and SMI Chips, Inc., also shall be ordered to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest in amounts the Court deems appropriate upon motion of the Commission. The Defendants consented to the entry of the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission’s complaint.
On September 26, 2011, Defendant Gerald Patera, and his companies, Defendants Capital Bankers Group Ltd. and Third Securities Corp., were permanently enjoined from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition, the judgment permanently bars Patera from participating in the offer or sale of penny stocks and provides that, upon motion of the Commission, the Court shall order disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest thereon, and civil penalties in amounts the Court deems appropriate. The Defendants consented to the entry of the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission’s complaint.
The Commission filed an emergency action on April 28, 2011, alleging that China Voice’s co-founder and former Chief Financial Officer, David Ronald Allen, with the assistance Dowlatshahi and Mills, and numerous related entities, launched what became a Ponzi scheme that sought to raise at least $8.6 million from investors across the country. The Commission alleged that, contrary to what investors were told, proceeds were used to pay back earlier investors; to make payments to Allen, Dowlatshahi, and Mills; and to make payments to Allen-affiliated business, including China Voice.
On June 5, the Honorable Judge Reed O’Connor, United States District Judge, entered a preliminary injunction, which, along with freezing the assets of multiple defendants and relief defendants, prevents the defendants from violating certain provisions of the securities laws, orders the preservation of documents, and requires the defendants to provide an accounting to determine the disposition of investor funds.
The SEC’s complaint also charges China Voice, its former chairman and CEO William Burbank IV, and Allen for a series of fraudulent statements about China Voice’s financial condition and business prospects, as well as Patera, Drapkin, and Robert Wilson for their roles in the scheme.
The Commission’s case is still pending against remaining defendants Allen, Burbank, Wilson, China Voice, and various of their related entities.”