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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a Boston judge to impose sanctions totalling $60.6-million against a group associated with West Vancouver's Frederick Sharp. The SEC claims that the group was part of pump-and-dump schemes that involved as much as $1-billion worth of improperly sold shares. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) Through aliases, an encrypted communications network and offshore nominees, Mr. Sharp and his group allowed insiders to secretly unload shares on the U.S. markets, the SEC claimed.

The proposed sanctions for the group are set out in a motion that the SEC filed on Friday, Dec. 8, in federal court in Boston. The affected defendants are all Vancouver-area residents, with the motion listing them as Mike Veldhuis, Paul Sexton, Jackson Friesen, Courtney Kelln and Yvonne Gasarch. The highest amount that the SEC is seeking is for Mr. Veldhuis, who was a client of Mr. Sharp's operation. The SEC is asking that he be ordered to pay $19.1-million, comprising disgorgement of gains, plus interest, and a fine. The judgment would also include a permanent penny stock ban.

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