Litigation Release No. 17747 / September 26, 2002
SEC FILES SECOND CONTEMPT MOTION AGAINST ROC HATFIELD
AND GLOBAL DIAMOND FUND, INC.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION V. MARADA GLOBAL CORPORATION, et al., Case No. 94-CV-1504 (M.D. Fla.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on April 10, 2002, it filed with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, an Application for an Order to Show Cause why Roc Hatfield and Global Diamond Fund, Inc. (GDF) should not be held in civil contempt for failing to comply with the Court's Order of March 26, 2002, requiring them to file a sworn accounting.
On March 26, 2002, the SEC filed its first motion for contempt and for other emergency relief against Hatfield and GDF for violating the Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction and Other Relief entered on September 8, 1995, in SEC v. Marada Global Corporation, et al., Case No. 94-CV-1504-CIV-T-26MAP (M.D. Fla.). The Marada final judgment prohibited Hatfield from violating the penny stock, registration and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
The SEC alleged that from at least September 2001 through the filing of the first contempt motion, Hatfield and GDF (a private Florida corporation founded and operated by Hatfield in St. Petersburg, Florida) violated Sections 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Marada final judgment by fraudulently offering unregistered securities in the form of nine-month 24% APR high yield secured notes. On April 25, 2002, the SEC amended its motion to also allege that Hatfield and GDF were in contempt of the Marada final judgment by violating Section 5(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
On March 26, 2002, the Court entered an order freezing Hatfield and GDF's assets, an order prohibiting the destruction of documents and expediting discovery, and an order requiring Hatfield and GDF to provide, within 5 business days, a sworn accounting of all monies, among other relief. Neither Hatfield nor GDF filed their sworn accountings. The SEC requested that the Court find Hatfield and GDF in civil contempt and incarcerate Hatfield until he complied with the Court's Order. On April 19, 2002, Hatfield and GDF filed their sworn accountings.