Jon A. Darmstadter

Litigation Release No. 18197 / June 20, 2003

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jon A. Darmstadter, Civil Action No. 03C-4166 (Northern District of Illinois)

The SEC announced today that it filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois seeking an order of permanent injunction and other ancillary relief against Jon A. Darmstadter in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jon A. Darmstadter, Civil Action No. 03C-4166 (N.D. Ill.). The complaint alleges that from July 1998 to February 1999 Darmstadter, the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Children's Beverage Group, Inc., located in Northbrook, Illinois, made unauthorized purchases and sales of Children's Beverage Group stock in a brokerage account belonging to one of his employees. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Darmstadter used his employee's brokerage account to transfer, sell, and offer for sale Children's Beverage Group stock to Darmstadter's business associates and others in unregistered stock transactions. The complaint further alleges that Darmstadter accomplished his scheme by forging his employee's name on letters of authorization and sending them to his employee's registered representative, thereby fraudulently causing the representative to execute the unauthorized securities transactions. The complaint alleges that these unauthorized transactions violated Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction, civil penalties and disgorgement against Darmstadter.