This item is part of Stockwatch's value added news feed and is only available to Stockwatch subscribers.

Here is a sample of this item:

by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil fraud charges against Benjamin Ballout of Detroit, citing him for the pump-and-dump of Enerkon Solar International Inc., an OTC Markets listing that claimed to have $320-million in supposed sales from a Canadian-made test for COVID-19. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) According to the SEC, Mr. Ballout falsely claimed to have an order from an organization in the Dominican Republic for test kits, and issued a news release to that end. He continued touting the deal even after the Canadian distributor of the device told him that his news release was false and misleading, the SEC says.

The allegations are contained in a civil complaint that the SEC filed on Sept. 23, 2024, in federal court in Miami. The complaint identifies Mr. Ballout as a Michigan resident who became the president of Enerkon in February, 2018. Also named as defendants are Mohamed Zayed of Egypt and William Fielding of Florida.

The case arises from a pump-and-dump that the SEC claims the men ran in March, 2021. At the time, Mr. Ballout was the owner of 33 million Enerkon shares, or more than half of the company's stock, and "had a strong financial motivation" to boost the value of those shares, the complaint states. The problem, as set out by the SEC, was that Enerkon had less than $100 in the bank and had no profit-generating businesses.

The remainder is available to Stockwatch subscribers.
Sign-up for a FREE 30-day Stockwatch subscription and SEE NO ADS