FORMER CEO CHARGED WITH MARKET MANIPULATION

"The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Giuseppe Pino Baldassarre, the former CEO of Dolphin Digital Media, Inc. (“Dolphin”), Robert Mouallem, a registered representative, and Malcolm Stockdale, a Dolphin shareholder, with engaging in a fraudulent broker bribery scheme designed to manipulate the market for Dolphin’s common stock. Baldassarre, age 53 and a resident of Indialantic, Florida, was Dolphin’s President from May 15, 2007 until March 20, 2009, and Dolphin’s CEO from May 15, 2007 until June 25, 2008. Mouallem, age 56 and a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, is a registered representative at Garden State Securities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. Stockdale, age 66 and a resident of Prince Edward Island, Canada, is the owner of Winterman Group Ltd., a Canadian limited liability company. The complaint, filed today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that from at least October 2009 until April 2010, Baldassarre, Stockdale, and Mouallem engaged in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the market for Dolphin stock through matched trades and by bribing registered representatives to purchase Dolphin stock. The complaint also alleged that Baldassarre and Stockdale entered into a kickback arrangement with an individual (“Individual A”) who claimed to represent a group of registered representatives with trading discretion over the accounts of wealthy customers. Baldassarre and Stockdale promised to pay a 30% kickback to Individual A and the registered representatives he represented in exchange for the purchase of up to seven million shares of Dolphin stock for at least $3 million. The complaint further alleges that between March 31 and April 6, 2010, and in accordance with the illicit arrangement, Mouallem, who was responsible for handling the sales, instructed Individual A to purchase approximately 105,000 shares of Baldassarre and Stockdale’s Dolphin stock for a total of approximately $38,100. Mouallem gave Individual A detailed instructions concerning the size, price and timing of the orders. In this way, Mouallem was able to insure that almost all of Individual A’s purchase orders were matched with Mouallem’s sell orders at prices Mouallem predetermined. Thereafter, Baldassarre paid Individual A bribes of approximately $11,440 for those purchases. The complaint charges Baldassarre, Mouallem, and Stockdale with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The Commission seeks permanent injunctive relief from the Defendants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, if any, plus pre-judgment interest, civil penalties, penny stock bars, and a judgment prohibiting Baldassarre from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The Commission acknowledges assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this matter." "