Litigation Release No. 17184 / October 12, 2001
Securities and Exchange Commission v. William S. Cordo, Mitchell S. Davis and John A. Blount, Civil Action No. 00-08392-CIV-RYSKAMP (S.D. Florida, West Palm Beach Division) (complaint filed May 15, 2000)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on September 28, 2001, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a final judgment of permanent injunction, and imposed civil money penalties of $15,000 each, against William S. Cordo and Mitchell Davis. Cordo and Davis consented to the entry of the injunction and the imposition of the civil money penalties without admitting or denying any of the allegations in the Commission's complaint against them.
In a complaint filed on May 15, 2000, the SEC alleged that Cordo and Davis engaged in an unregistered securities offering through a firm they owned, International Currency Consultants, Inc. (ICC) of Boca Raton, Florida. The complaint alleged that from about May 1998 to May 1999, ICC sold approximately $1.7 million worth of unregistered securities to investors using a boiler-room operation established by Cordo and Davis. In addition to requiring Cordo and Davis to pay civil money penalties of $15,000 each, the final judgment permanently enjoins Cordo and Davis from further violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933.
The SEC would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of the Texas State Securities Board in its investigation of this matter.