The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against San Diego-based attorney Andrew T.E. Coldicutt for his role in a would-be pump-and-dump scheme.

The SEC's complaint alleges that after Coldicutt was approached by individuals he believed to be hedge fund managers seeking to effectuate a pump-and-dump scheme, he created a sham company to facilitate the scheme - the company purported to collect unpicked fruit from homeowners in the Southern California area, consolidate it, and sell it to grocery stores and the public generally. Coldicutt allegedly then prepared and filed with the SEC registration statements for an initial public offering that contained false and misleading information, including a fictitious business plan that Coldicutt had created for the "peach picking" company, and false and misleading statements concerning the control of the company and the source of the company's funding. Coldicutt allegedly had another lawyer sign the legal opinion letter attached to the registration statements in order to avoid potential regulatory scrutiny because of two SEC subpoena enforcement actions that had previously been filed against him.

The SEC's complaint charges Coldicutt with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, a conduct-based injunction prohibiting Coldicutt from providing legal services in conjunction with any offer or sale of securities, a penny stock bar, and a civil penalty.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Roberto Tercero and supervised by Marc Blau as part of the Microcap Fraud Task Force. The litigation will be led by Amy J. Longo. The SEC acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.