On March 4, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Utah charging Canadian stock promoter Colin McCabe with disseminating false and misleading information to investors when recommending penny stocks to them.
In its complaint, the Commission alleges that, from at least early 2008 through 2011, McCabe, among other things: made false and misleading claims about how he selected recommended stocks; failed to disclose to his newsletter subscribers that he was being paid substantial sums to recommend some of the same stocks in his other publications; and made false and misleading statements about the assets of one of the issuers he recommended.
According to the complaint, McCabe falsely claimed that his publications were the result of extensive research conducted by researchers with relevant expertise and contacts, when, in fact, McCabe’s research was limited to reviewing issuers’ filings with the Commission, press releases, and issuer websites, and he did not have any assistance in researching stocks or writing his publications. The complaint alleges that while touting the quality of his stock picking research, McCabe failed to disclose to his newsletter subscribers that he was being paid substantial sums, a total of more than $16 million between early 2008 and 2011, to promote some of the same stocks he recommended to them in his other publications.
The complaint further alleges that McCabe falsely represented that Guinness Exploration Inc. ("Guinness") had acquired a mining property well before discoveries in May 2009 turned the region into "a red-hot area play," when, in fact, the property was not acquired until months later in November 2009. According to the complaint, McCabe’s claims that Guinness’ property held "an estimated recoverable resource in excess of 1 million ounces of gold" were also false and misleading.
The complaint alleges that McCabe, doing business as Elite Stock Report, The Stock Profiteer and Resource Stock Advisor, violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Commission seeks a final judgment permanently enjoining McCabe from future violations of the federal securities laws and ordering him to pay civil penalties and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest.
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