Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Release No. 44806 / September 17, 2001
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement
Release No. 1447 / September 17, 2001
Administrative Proceeding
File No. 3-10576
CEASE-AND-DESIST PROCEEDINGS INSTITUTED AGAINST ROBERT M. FULLER
The Commission announced that it instituted administrative cease-and-desist proceedings against Robert M. ("Skip") Fuller of Sautee, Georgia. Fuller was a co-founder, chairman of the board and executive vice president-investor relations of Vista 2000, Inc., formerly located in Roswell, Georgia and traded on the NASDAQ National Market.
In the Order, the Division of Enforcement alleges that approximately one week after Vista's initial public offering of units (consisting of common stock and warrants), Vista used 30% of the proceeds from its IPO to repurchase some IPO units. Vista failed to amend its IPO to disclose this information. Vista incurred a loss of $666,000 when it resold some of the units it had repurchased. Fuller caused Vista to not disclose certain information relating to this activity in Vista's 1994 IPO and 1994 Form 10-KSB. Further, Fuller caused Vista to file its 1994 financial statements that were certified by accountants who were not independent because he had previously given one of the auditors 60,000 shares of Vista common stock as a gift.
As a result, the Order alleges that Fuller caused Vista to violate Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5, 12b-20 and 13a-1 thereunder.
A hearing will be held before an administrative law judge to determine whether the allegations in the Order are true and, if so, what, if any, remedial sanctions against Fuller are appropriate.