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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil fraud charges against two Canadians, including Vancouver's Bruce Strebinger, for a $17-million OTC Bulletin Board scheme. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The SEC claims that the men boosted a purported Tennessee coal company, Americas Energy Company, while secretly selling millions of shares. They then routed the proceeds offshore, according to the SEC.

The charges are contained in a civil complaint the SEC filed on Monday, Nov. 3, in the Northern District of Georgia. It identifies Mr. Strebinger, 38, as a Vancouver resident who purports to be self-employed in the marketing and promotional field. Also a defendant is Brent Chapman, 38, a former employee of Bolder Investment Partners Ltd. who now lives in Antigua.

The scheme, as described by the SEC, came about in early 2009, after the two men acquired positions in a predecessor to Americas Energy. At the time the company was a shell with no material assets or operations. The men each held more than 5 per cent of its shares (most of which they acquired for pennies), but failed to make the required disclosures of their holdings, the complaint states.

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