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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil fraud charges over the manipulation of an Ontario OTC Bulletin Board company, Ecoland International Inc., that went to $1.24 from 11.2 cents in a 10-day span. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The regulator claims that a group of men boosted the stock with misleading spam and matched trades. At the same time they dumped $3.29-million worth of shares, according to the SEC.

The allegations are contained in a civil complaint filed on Sept. 29, 2016, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The defendants include Mississauga resident Berardino "Dino" Paolucci Jr., 38, who is listed as the operator of a group of touting websites. These include pennyplayersclub.com, insanepennies.com and marketbulls.com.

The scheme, as described by the SEC, took place in 2011 and early 2012. According to the complaint, in July, 2011, Mr. Paolucci arranged for a private auto parts company that he controlled to go public on the OTC Bulletin Board through a merger. The deal was structured in a way that gave him and his associates control over more than 90 per cent of the stock of the resulting company, the SEC claims.

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