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SEC lands final fine in Forum manipulation

2017-03-14 10:39 ET - Street Wire

Also Street Wire (U-*SEC) U S Securities and Exchange Commission
Also Street Wire (U-FMNL) Forum National Investments Ltd

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by Mike Caswell

In a footnote to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Vancouver's Dan Clozza and others, the regulator has won a small fine against Ahmad Ghaznawi, a Nebraska man who ran a website called www.thewallstreetbulls.com. The SEC said that Mr. Ghaznawi was part of a 2012 scheme to manipulate Mr. Clozza's then-company, Forum National Investments Ltd. He posted on-line reports touting the stock as one that could "easily skyrocket" to $10, the regulator claimed.

The case was mostly resolved, except for the matter of Mr. Ghaznawi's fine, which a judge has now set at $7,500. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The sanction is contained in a ruling issued on Monday, March 13, by California Judge John Kronstadt. The fine is not yet formalized, as the SEC still must submit a final judgment for approval. Assuming that occurs, the fine will come on top of a permanent penny stock ban that the judge previously imposed on Mr. Ghaznawi.

The SEC had not specified an amount for Mr. Ghaznawi's fine, but (as with many defendants) Mr. Ghaznawi made an effort to persuade the judge that he had little money to pay. In a declaration dated March 10, 2017, he said that he had stopped doing all promotional work after receiving the ban. He listed his present occupation as that of a security guard, with a wage of $10.75 per hour. He also set out his monthly expenses, totalling $1,410, against a monthly income of $1,400.

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