SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 16183 / June 10, 1999
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1137 / June 10, 1999
United States v. Herbert Emanuel Woll: 1:99-CR-25
SEC Defendant Convicted For Perjury Committed During SEC Investigation
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that on June 7, 1999, Herbert Woll ("Woll"), a resident of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted by a jury in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee of committing perjury during his sworn testimony before an officer of the SEC. The testimony was offered by Woll during the course of an SEC investigation that led to a pending civil action, SEC v. Mohamed Khairy Mohamed Zayed, II, Michael W. Rehtorik, and Herbert Woll, C.P.A. (E.D. Tenn., Civil Action No. 1:98-CV-327 Judge Edgar, filed September 24, 1998).
The SEC filed civil fraud charges against two former officers of Genesis International Financial Services, Inc. ("Genesis"), Mohamed Khairy Mohamed Zayed, II ("Zayed") and Michael W. Rehtorik ("Rehtorik"), and its former accountant, Woll, for their roles in an illegal "pump and dump" scheme involving Genesis' stock. In its complaint, the SEC alleged that Zayed, Rehtorik and Woll engaged in securities fraud in the promotion and sale of the Genesis stock by using fraudulent financial statements and press releases calculated to deceive prospective investors. Woll, a certified public accountant, was named as a defendant in the SEC litigation for his actions in preparing the fraudulent financial documents for Genesis. On April 30, 1997, before filing its civil action, the SEC issued an order temporarily suspending the trading of the securities of Genesis, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
Woll was convicted of committing perjury in response to questions relating to his personal criminal history. Specifically, Woll knowingly provided false testimony by failing to reveal that his criminal history included several arrests and convictions.
The SEC's case, which alleges violations of the antifraud provisions, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, by Woll, Zayed and Rehtorik, is currently ongoing in the Tennessee district court. For additional information about the SEC's trading suspension and the ongoing litigation, see SEC Release No, 34-38565 (May 1, 1997) Litigation Releases 15907 (September 24, 1998), and 16130 (May 3, 1999).