U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 19938 / December 7, 2006
SEC v. International Energy and Resources, Inc., Case No. CV 06-07694-AHM-JTLx (C.D. Cal.)
Commission Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against International Energy and Resources, Inc.
On December 5, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an application with the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, for an order to enforce investigative subpoenas served on International Energy and Resources, Inc. ("IER"), a Texas corporation based in Dallas, Texas.
The Commission's application and supporting papers allege that on September 8, 2006, the Commission issued a formal order of private investigation entitled In the Matter of International Energy and Resources, Inc. On September 8 and September 21, 2006, the Commission issued administrative subpoenas to IER in the course of that investigation into possible violations of the registration and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of securities concerning a purported gold mine in Arizona.
According to the Commission's application and supporting documents, its staff is investigating, among other things, whether IER and others offered and sold unregistered securities and made materially false and misleading statements or omitted to state material facts concerning the use of investor proceeds, the status of mining operations or production, the purported gold reserves at the Arizona site, and the rate of return from the investments. The subpoenas required IER to produce documents relevant to the pending investigation and necessary to determine whether violations of the federal securities laws have occurred or may be occurring and whether any person or entity received ill-gotten gains from any such violations. The Commission further alleges that, as of the date of the Commission's application, IER has failed to produce the majority of responsive documents that it apparently has in its possession, IER has no valid justification for its failure to comply, and a court order is necessary to compel IER to provide the subpoenaed documents.
A hearing on the Commission's application has been scheduled for December 18, 2006.