UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 16224 / July 28, 1999
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Alamin, Inc., Financial Resources, George L. Vaughn and Curt Arvidson, Civil Action No. 2:99CV-576J (USDC Utah)
A civil action has been filed seeking a temporary restraining order against Alamin, Inc., Financial Resources, George L. Vaughn and Curt Arvidson in connection with a scheme in which the defendants have offered to sell at least $649 million in interests in a prime bank trading program to at least 23 municipalities located primarily in the western United States. None of these municipalities has actually invested in the scheme.
The complaint alleges the defendants required interested municipalities to provide lists of projects those governments would like to fund using the proceeds which would be earned from the trading program; the defendants then approved investment in the program in the amount equal to the cost of the municipal projects. It is further alleged that the defendants required the municipalities to place liquid assets into a trust which would be administered by the defendants; the defendants would then use the assets as collateral for funds which would be invested in the prime bank trading program yielding returns of up to 130% a month with no risk of loss. The complaint also alleges the defendants represented the program was endorsed by the International Monetary Fund, which supposedly was a participant in the program. The complaint alleges that Vaughn and Arvidson solicited investments through personal contact with the elected officials of, primarily, smaller cities and counties in Utah, Idaho, California, Washington and Oregon, although municipalities in Oklahoma, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina were also approached about investing in the program.
The Commission alleges that through their conduct, the defendants are violating the securities registration and antifraud provisions of Sections 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933.