SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Orchestrator of Pump-and-Dump Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against Andrew I. Farmer, whom the SEC charged with orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme involving a company that purportedly developed revolutionary technology to enable environmentally friendly oil and gas production. The final judgment, entered on July 18, 2017 by the Honorable Keith P. Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, orders Farmer to pay approximately $7.2 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of approximately $2 million. The final judgment also permanently enjoins Farmer from violating Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder and imposes permanent penny stock and officer-and-director bars.

The SEC’s litigation was led by Matthew Gulde and Nikolay Vydashenko and supervised by Jessica Magee.

More information is available here.