U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 18498 / December 10, 2003
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. PAUL HOWE NOE, ET AL., (Civil Action No. 3:02-485-17) (D.S.C. February 14, 2002)
UNITED STATES v. PAUL HOWE NOE, ET AL., (Criminal No. 3:02-0096) (D.S.C. December 2, 2003)
On December 2, 2003 the Honorable Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Columbia Division sentenced Paul Noe and Clif Goldstein to prison terms of 78 months and 46 months, respectively, followed by three years supervised release. Noe and Goldstein were also jointly and severally ordered to pay $645,708.20 in restitution to 21 victims. Noe was convicted in a jury trial of five counts of wire fraud, one count of transportation of stolen securities, and one count of conspiracy to defraud. Goldstein pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The criminal case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of South Carolina.
On February 14, 2002, the SEC charged Goldstein, Noe, Carolyn Kaplan, Nuell Paschal, Noel Alelov, Great American Trust Company and Great American Trust Corporation with fraudulently raising not less than $1.1 million in a prime bank scheme. According to the Commission's complaint filed in the federal district court for the District of South Carolina, the Commission alleges that the defendants targeted both cash-poor companies unable to obtain funding through conventional means, and individual investors who desired to earn high investment returns quickly. Goldstein and Noe and their Great American Trust companies served as the primary offerors of the investment programs that comprised the fraudulent scheme, while the other defendants served as "finders" or selling agents, locating and luring potential investors to Goldstein and Noe and receiving finders' fees. The programs, which were promoted via the Internet and an intricate network of so-called consultants or finders, featured the use of purported prime bank instruments, wholly fictional securities allegedly traded on an equally fictitious secondary market.
Additional information can be found in Litigation Release Nos. 17362 and 18349.