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by Mike Caswell

New York stock tout Christopher Wheeler, already facing civil charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from a Canadian-linked pump-and-dump scheme, must now defend a criminal case as well. Prosecutors have charged him with three counts of failing to file his income taxes. They claim that he received gross income of $11.95-million over three years, but did not submit any tax returns. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

The allegations add to Mr. Wheeler's existing legal troubles. The SEC previously charged him for promoting four companies, including two Canadian listings, in 2007 and 2008. The regulator claimed that he recommended the stocks on his website, OTCStockExchange.com, while secretly selling millions of shares. The SEC is seeking at least $3.69-million in civil sanctions for Mr. Wheeler.

The income tax charges, which are contained in a criminal information sheet filed April 14, 2014, partly cover the same time period as the touting allegations. Prosecutors claim that Mr. Wheeler willfully failed to file his returns for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. The brief information sheet provides no details, such as the source of the money. The charges are a misdemeanor which means the sentence, assuming Mr. Wheeler is convicted, would likely be one year or less. Mr. Wheeler has not yet entered a plea.

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