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by Mike Caswell

Vancouver's Bruce Strebinger has lost his motion to dismiss charges he faces for a $17-million OTC Bulletin Board scheme. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) A judge in Atlanta has ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sufficiently linked him to the 2009 pump-and-dump of a purported coal company. Among other things, the SEC claimed that Mr. Strebinger participated in the creation of misleading tout sheets that boosted the stock.

The ruling comes as part of a case the SEC is pursuing against Mr. Strebinger and another Canadian, Brent Chapman, for the promotion of Americas Energy Company. The SEC said that the men arranged a $3.5-million paid touting campaign, with one of the tout sheets assigning the stock a price of up to $20. They then sold $17-million worth of shares without making the required disclosures, according to the regulator.

Mr. Strebinger had sought to have the case dismissed before trial, saying there was no evidence he did anything wrong. He claimed that his role with the paid tout sheets was very minor. Others carried out all the key functions, while he was merely an "interested shareholder," he contended.

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