U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 21349 / December 23, 2009
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alliance Transcription Services, Inc., CV-08-01464-PHX-NVW (District of Arizona, Complaint filed August 8, 2008)
Court Enters Final Judgment by Consent Against Defendant Clifford A. Lewis
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on December 22, 2009, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona entered a final judgment by consent against Clifford A. Lewis of Huntsville, Alabama, a defendant in a fraud action filed by the Commission in August 2008. The Commission alleges in its complaint that Lewis and others participated in a scheme to manipulate the price and trading volume of Alliance Transcription Services, Inc. (formerly Strategy X, Inc.) stock and to issue and sell Alliance's common stock in an unregistered distribution. In the consent judgment, the Court permanently enjoined Lewis from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and imposed officer and director and penny stock bars against him.
The Commission filed its action against Lewis, the former president and chief executive officer of Alliance, and six other defendants on August 8, 2008. The Commission's complaint alleges that Lewis and others participated in a scheme in which, among other things, Alliance issued press releases that made false and misleading claims about its contracts and revenues and published them on its website and through business newswire services.
Without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, Lewis consented to a final judgment entered by the Court. The final judgment enjoins Lewis from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, prohibits him from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act or that is required to file reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and permanently bars him from participating in any penny stock offering. The judgment does not impose a civil monetary penalty based on Lewis's financial condition.
The Commission previously obtained a default judgment against Alliance and settled its action against Arizona attorney William D. O'Neal. The action remains pending against the remaining four defendants, Raymond C. Dabney of Vancouver, British Columbia, Richard A. Dabney of Torrance, California, Charles J. Smith of Reno, Nevada, and Philip M. Young of Scottsdale, Arizona.
For further information, please see Litigation Release Numbers 20791 (October 24, 2008) [default judgment against Alliance]; 20676 (August 8, 2008) [civil injunctive action filed and judgment by consent against William D. O'Neal]; and 19870 (October 16, 2006) [subpoena enforcement action filed]; and Exchange Act Release Number 56610 (October 4, 2007) [order suspending trading in Alliance securities].