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by Mike Caswell

Dan Ryan and Carol McKeown, the Montreal couple facing a scalping suit in Florida from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, have missed the deadline to respond to the charges, and the court has recorded them as being in default. Ms. McKeown had sought extra time to file an answer, arguing that she was having trouble affording a lawyer after the SEC froze the couple's assets. Florida Judge James Cohn denied her request on Sept. 3, 2010, and the SEC immediately sought the entry of a default status.

The charges the pair faces are for promoting 65 U.S. companies through a touting site called PennyStockChaser and through accounts they controlled on Facebook and Twitter. As they pitched the stocks, Mr. Ryan and Ms. McKeown sold millions of shares of those same companies, grossing $2.4-million, the SEC claims. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

The couple had until Aug. 4, 2010, to answer the charges. With the default status, the SEC may now seek a default judgment. If Mr. Ryan and Ms. McKeown do not provide an acceptable excuse for failing to file an answer, the SEC can then ask the judge to impose penalties on them without a hearing.

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