Subject of SEC Investigation Held in Contempt of Court and Arrested for Failing to Comply with Subpoenas
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a Staten Island man who is the subject of an agency investigation has been held in contempt of court and arrested for failing to comply with subpoenas requiring him to produce documents and give testimony.
The SEC filed a subpoena enforcement action in federal court in Manhattan on Nov. 4, 2013, against Anthony Coronati, the founder of a business known as Bidtoask.com, which has an office in Staten Island. According to court documents, entities controlled by Coronati solicited investments relating to the securities of sought-after private companies such as Facebook that investors hoped would later hold initial public offerings. The SEC is investigating, among other things, whether Coronati commingled investor funds with other money in an account he controlled and used it to pay personal expenses. Despite two SEC investigative subpoenas in 2013, Coronati has neither produced documents nor appeared for testimony.
A court order issued on Nov. 7, 2013, required Coronati to comply with the SEC subpoenas. A court order issued on Jan. 17, 2014, found Coronati in civil contempt for ignoring the prior court order. The contempt order requires Coronati, who repeatedly attempted to evade service, to pay $4,812 to the SEC to reimburse the agency for its costs of serving him with court papers in this proceeding.
The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Coronati today. At a hearing held before the Honorable William H. Pauley III, the court ordered Coronati released on $50,000 bond and restricted his travel to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The court ordered a further hearing on Feb. 6, 2014.
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