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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a judge to impose a permanent penny stock ban and up to $4.3-million in sanctions on Canada's Berardino "Dino" Paolucci Jr. for his part in an OTC Bulletin Board manipulation. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The SEC says that he and others fraudulently boosted a purported auto parts company called Ecoland International Inc. The group moved the stock to $1.24 from 11 cents in just 10 days, the regulator claims.

The proposed sanctions are contained in a motion the SEC filed on Friday, Jan. 27, in federal court in Pennsylvania. The financial penalties the SEC is seeking include disgorgement of his gains from the scheme, which the regulator lists at $2.05-million, plus interest. The SEC is also seeking an appropriate fine. The judge must determine the amount, but the SEC says it can be as high as Mr. Paolucci's gains, or $2.05-million, which would bring the total penalty to about $4.3-million.

The penalties, should the judge grant them, would come without any participation from Mr. Paolucci. The SEC says that he has ignored the matter entirely. The regulator had a process server deliver a copy of the complaint to him on Dec. 12, 2016. He had 21 days from that date to file an answer, but did not do so. (There could be some question about the success of the SEC's efforts at serving Mr. Paolucci with the case. The only documentation is a very brief note from a process server who attended an address in Mississauga. The note reads: "Personal service. Claims Berardino is not him. However showed me his drivers licence and it read Dino Paolucci.")

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