Investors Hub Slander Judgement & 2nd ASC 4/9/10

SEC target Brown reaches deal with prosecutors


2010-02-05 14:26 ET - Street Wire

Also Street Wire (U-*SEC) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Also Street Wire (U-AAGH) Asia Global Holdings Corp
Also Street Wire (U-GHTI) GH3 International Inc


by Mike Caswell

Matthew Brown, operator of the penny stock website Investors Hub, has reached a deal with Delaware prosecutors in his criminal market manipulation case. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the judge has now scheduled a change of plea hearing for Feb. 17, 2010. In a scheduling order dated Feb. 3, 2010, the judge noted that Mr. Brown has some sort of deal with prosecutors, but he did not provide any details. These will likely be released after Mr. Brown changes his plea.

Police arrested Mr. Brown and six others on May 26, 2009, after a two-year investigation into the manipulation of pink sheets companies. Prosecutors claimed that the men manipulated four stocks, including Ontario-based Playstar Corp., which purported to be developing a proprietary text message system for cellphones.

Mr. Brown pleaded not guilty to the charges on June 24, 2009, and is free on a $50,000 bond. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He faced a maximum of 40 years in jail if found guilty.

Brown's indictment

Prosecutors unsealed an eight-count criminal fraud indictment against Mr. Brown on May 21, 2009, in the District of Delaware. The document briefly described the pump-and-dumps of two stocks, GH3 International Inc. and Asia Global Holdings Corp. According to the indictment, Mr. Brown and the others misused Regulation D offerings to obtain hundreds of millions of shares of GH3, while the company issued misleading news releases touting revenues from an anti-aging product. Regulation D normally provides an exemption for shares issued in a private placement to an accredited investor.

The indictment described the GH3 manipulation in broad terms, stating that Mr. Brown and the others conspired to artificially inflate the market for the company. In what details it did provide, it stated that Mr. Brown arranged to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from the scheme. In one transfer, he paid a driver $10,000 to take $146,000 in cash from California to Delaware. The indictment also listed wire transfers and cash withdrawals totalling $693,000 as proceeds from GH3 share sales.

The indictment provided a similar level of detail with the Asia Global pump-and-dump. Prosecutors said that Mr. Brown received several instant messages about the timing of a planned promotion of Asia Global, which purported to have the rights to the show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in China. The indictment quoted several of the messages, including one dated Nov. 1, 2006, which stated, "u have all the prs [press releases] right, except the first one, which im going to work on tomorrow for sure, we need a plan on line up of events and i need to see the d**n prs to see which rumor to spread and how to start the d**n thing ... ." Another, dated Sept. 1, 2006, stated that the company should "do bigger S-8, 25 [million] shares instead of 15 and we'll sell it all extra 10 [million] ... ."

Prosecutors also described how Mr. Brown and others directed the buying and selling of 24 million shares of the company during a two-week period in February, 2007. (Trading records show that the stock traded between five and seven cents, and that it had average daily volume of 12.1 million shares between those dates. It last traded for 0.22 of a penny.)

In addition to the market manipulation allegations, prosecutors claimed that Mr. Brown helped set up an offshore bank account for one of his co-conspirators, Pawel Dynkowski, that would be safe from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The purpose of the account was to help Mr. Dynkowski hide the proceeds of the Asia Global market manipulation. According to the indictment, the men travelled to Costa Rica on Oct. 21, 2006, and opened the account. In a subsequent instant message, Mr. Dynkowski said his "set up is now 100% sec safe."

Mr. Brown's co-conspirators, who were separately indicted, are Joseph Mangiapane, 43, of California; Pawel Dynkowski, 24, of Delaware; Marc Riviello, 50, of California; Jacob Canceli, 50, of California; Gerard D'Amaro, 38, of Florida; and Angelo "Bill" Panetta, 48, of California. All of the men have pleaded not guilty to the charges, and await trial, except Mr. Dynkowski, who has not yet entered a plea.

In addition to the criminal charges, the men face a parallel civil suit launched by the SEC on May 21, 2009. In that case, the SEC claims that the men made $6.2-million pumping and dumping Playstar, GH3 International, Asia Global and Xtreme Motorsports of California Inc.

The regulator belatedly halted GH3 on Dec. 24, 2009, stating that publicly available information about the stock was questionable.




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Man, Matt's a little on the chubby side. I feel sorry for all of the chumps he rolled over on. Bet he crushed 'em hard.


Posted by Squeal Deal @ 2010-02-05 14:45



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Mina Mar Group Wins Slander Lawsuit Against the Investors Hub

TORONTO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Mina Mar Group Inc. www.minamargroup.com/ (MMG) and Mina Mar Marketing Group www.minamargroup.net/ (MMMG) inform the public that the courts ruled in the favour of Mina Mar Group in slander lawsuit against Investors Hub.

Mr. Justice Belobaba, Ontario Superior Court Of Justice awarded judgment in favor of Mina Mar Group, and awarded $75,000 in general damages, $10,000 in punitive damages and $20,000 for the trial costs to the company.

This was never about the money but rather principle. These stock bashers should not be allowed to destroy other peoples reputations and businesses with slanderous and malicious posts on the Internet

The court ruling can be seen on this link www.minamargroup.com/stock_bashers.php

Mina Mar Group wishes to quote some key declarations of the court:

"4... THIS COURT ORDERS that all negative, defamatory and libellous postings, made by Posters and members of Investors Hub.Com Inc web site are untrue and are and were made without any foundation nor basis for any of their content

5... THE COURT ORDERS THAT the Defendants, Robert Zumbrunnen, Matt Brown and InvestorsHub.com Inc. apologize and publicly retract the libelous statements made against the Plaintiffs and that they shall send their signed retraction to the Plaintiffs and publish the same on the web site, InvestorsHub.com

6. THIS COURT ORDERS that Robert Zumbrunnen, Matt Brown and InvestorsHub.com Inc. provide the names and addresses of the following of its members and posters: Stratey, itlogic, Jim Bishop, Janice Shell, Universal Trader, Rtso, Livingstyle, Soyelpato, AccipiterO, strongtower, snow, peraire, and Fast Flyer 03, Strongtower, 1 summer, AccipiterQ, bob41, Buckley, soyelpato, greedy malone, rolltide, marine-1, firelane, (and any other poster who makes negative, libelous or defamatory statements against the Plaintiffs) anonymously named John Doe (the foregoing collectively known as "The Posters"). ..."

Mina Mar Group recently introduced the "Get the Facts Right" statement to our clients, which we remind all of our clients' shareholders to review before taking any advice from a stock board chat room. Most advisors have hidden agendas and prey on the unsuspecting.

Get the Facts Right. The issuer works hard to continue to keep our shareholders informed, and news is updated frequently via Press Releases, Pink Sheet www.pinksheets.com/ filings, and updates to our websites. Other websites not sponsored, or recognized by the Company may provide misleading or disinformation to investors in order to manipulate trading patterns for a given stock. Always look for original content from trusted sources, rather than relying on 'excerpts' or discussion boards that may not give you the whole story. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires financial institutions or brokerage firms to provide their clients with documentation, describing the risks of investing in penny stocks.

Vigorous enforcement of the court order including motions for contempt of court for any non compliance will commence shortly in Florida.


Posted by scion @ 2010-02-05 17:45



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Matt Brown should still get jail time, 3-5 years minimum.


Posted by frankie fillet @ 2010-02-05 18:37



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www.rubiconlitigation.com

much more to come


Posted by hoppy failster @ 2010-02-05 18:54



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It will be interesting to see if Investorshub will finally cut Matt Brown loose after he pleads guilty. The fact that they (IHUB) has kept him (Matt Brown) as a key administrator despite all the criminal charges leveled against Matt Brown, is telling us that Investorshub is just aching to be associated with alleged securities fraudsters. I expect additional lawsuits against Investorshub and its parent ADVFN to follow.


Posted by Scamfighter @ 2010-02-06 12:01



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IHUB is obviously a criminal organization for the purpose of stock manipulation both long and short. Its should be shut down and the operators sent to jail.


Posted by scion @ 2010-02-06 13:09



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"Mr. Brown's co-conspirators, who were separately indicted, are Joseph Mangiapane, 43, of California; Pawel Dynkowski, 24, of Delaware; Marc Riviello, 50, of California; Jacob Canceli, 50, of California; Gerard D'Amaro, 38, of Florida; and Angelo "Bill" Panetta, 48, of California."


Posted by The IHUB Gang @ 2010-02-06 13:12



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I was permanently booted from a paid subscription at IHUB for asking pertinent questions as to why IHUB gave preferential treatment to the hundreds of paid promoters (mostly undisclosed) that committed fraud daily at IHUB.

The only solution to this problem is to get IHUB to close down. IMO this problem is not isolated to one person within the Company. Hopefully this will be the start of something once people start to beg for a deal.

Hopefully people will band together and insist on change. E-mail the advertisers and inform them of IHUB's situation. Hit them where it hurts.

They silenced me once but never again.


Posted by Paulie Walnuts @ 2010-02-06 18:55



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Someone doesn't like the truth being told! Her days are numbered, she will end up in jail for her crimes against the investing public (imo). Everyone knows she is trying to cover her tracks on IHUB by removing herself as moderator of the very message boards she set up for the sole purpose of manipulation. The "outfit" is corrupt and she is a criminal guilty of securities fraud (imo). One old short position she has been guardian for the last 10 years is going to wipe her out, her time is running out!

She will drag her into court, the truth will come out who exactly she is and the criminal organization she represent, she is insidious!


Posted by frankie @ 2010-02-06 19:33



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The SEC knows....the SEC knows!

You're next, hag!


Posted by IHUB Corruption @ 2010-02-06 19:40



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Here is what happened to one of Janice Shell's associates:

Elgindy was convicted in January 2005 of racketeering, securities fraud and other crimes in connection with a scheme to steal confidential law enforcement information relating to FBI and SEC investigations of various companies. Elgindy used this information to trade in the stock of those companies and to make millions of dollars in the financial markets.[4] In June 2006, Elgindy was given a nine-year sentence, and was also sentenced to an additional two years on a separate conviction for making false statements to federal officials while attempting to board a flight under the name "Manny Velasco" before his trial.[5] The sentences are to be served consecutively, for a total of 11 years in prison. He was also ordered to return $1.5 million.[6]

In December 2008, a New York-based appeals court upheld Elgindy's 2005 conviction and sentence for racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and extortion.

Prior to starting his own hedge funds, Balyasny was the top trader at an outfit called Schonfeld Securities, the proprietor of which is a man named Steven Schonfeld. Prior to founding his firm, Schonfeld worked for Blinder Robinson (then known on the Street as “Blind’em and Rob’em”). Blinder Robinson was among the first firms to be shut down by the Feds when they began investigating a network of Mafia-linked brokerages that included Rosenwald’s D.H. Blair and Sater’s White Rock Capital.

.... and this:

Schonfeld worked at Blinder Robinson with Anthony Elgindy, the criminal naked short seller who was was later sentenced to prison for stock manipulation and bribing FBI officials. As you will recall, Elgindy appeared for his sentencing missing a finger – reportedly because the Russian Mafia forced him to saw it off, giving him something on which to meditate while he served his 11 years in jail.


Posted by Anthony Elgindy in JAIL @ 2010-02-06 19:47



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Regarding Janice Shell, if you've been reading the expose', you're familiar with the convicted Anthony "Nine Fingers" Elgindy. The more I read of him, the more I get infuriated. He's of Egyptian origin, from what I understand. I also understand he dumped most of his stock holdings Sept. 10, 2001 (the day before the terrorist attacks) and was quoted as saying the market would crash tomorrow. He bribed FBI agents, etc. In other words, he's as dirty as they come.

Janice Shell promotes herself as an "amateur investigator" and "scambuster". She claims to be an art historian living in Milan, Italy. She did write a book or two on art history, but you can bet there were no voluminous sales, and there's no way she's lived off that income, since her last book was 15 years ago or so. What is she doing now? She's a board moderator in IHUB (CMKX board and possibly others). Must pay well.

After it became increasingly evident she wasn't supporting herself with the books, she now tries to pass herself off as a government employee of some sort (LOL!). Since when does our government pay people to moderate a message board all day long which exclusively bashes stocks (when she's not diverting heat from herself by changing the subject to some stupid pictures of deer when the heat gets too hot, LOL!). She immediately deletes any posts which sheds light on miscreants and bans posters who don't fit her agenda. On the CMKX (revoked for 5 years... a long and controversial story) board she moderates for IHUB, she actually has banned most of the shareholders from posting (except for some she feels are good targets for her skills). She bashes Deep Capture like crazy, of course.

Anway, back to her and Elgindy. You would think a scambuster would be attacking such an obvious market miscreant tooth and nail, right? Not Janice! She ACTUALLY TESTIFIED AT THE ELGINDY SENTENCING IN AN EFFORT TO MITIGATE HIS PUNISHMENT after he had been proven guilty. Here's the proof:

PAGE 40: Janice Shell, member of Silicon Investor: I’ve known Tony (Amr) Elgindy for about eight years . . (through) the Silicon Investor financial message board. The Tony Elgindy that I know helped expose a great many scams. While his activities in this line may have hurt some individual shareholders, in the long run they were of help to the financial markets and to the investing public in general.

PAGE 48: (Janice Shell) ("I wasn’t a member of his 'club', but I knew many members, and I most certainly did not and do not believe it was the evil cabal that some have described. My impression is that it was a fairly ordinary, if rather pricey, investment club, to which members contributed information, research and stock picks." )

Here's the link to the document: www.asensioexposed.com/apdefsentencing.pdf

She (and her minions who school around her board like sharks attacking anyone who challenges her) claim that everyone is taking the above evidence all wrong. She wasn't trying to help Elgindy get his sentencing mitigated. Then, pray tell, what is the purpose of someone testifying complimentary information at a convicts sentencing if not to mitigate his punishment? Those crooks are so transparent yet will deny, deny, deny! Time for cuffs!

When confronted about her income, she now tries to pass herself off as a government employee of some sort (LOL!). Since when does our government pay people to moderate a message board which exclusively bashes stocks (when she's not diverting heat from herself by changing the subject to some stupid pictures of deer, LOL!).

Her "minions" can't be that blind, so they must be complicit. Are they just some folks that she has somehow blinded to the above facts, or are they on her payroll. Most I've read are idiots, but I don't think they are ignorant in that regard, so I vote "complicit" and "compensated" in one form or another. JMHO

When are they going to give this "books-to-message-board" author the "Silver Bracelets Award" to which I feel she is so entitled? LOL!


Posted by The Truth @ 2010-02-06 19:48



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Why are you making this about Janice Shell? Janice is one of the few on Investorshub that has been educating/warning people about pump and dumps and scams. In fact, if anything Janice and her good reputation was damaged by Matt Brown and Investorshub, perhaps she was even "used" to give IHUB the aura of a fair, balanced and legit stock discussion web site while at the same time insiders dumped shares (as alleged in the charges against Matt Brown and friends.) If you are worried about IHUB posters, take a closer look at the IHUB promoters of the stocks that get dumped into the markets. Soapy Bubbles aka Steven Hess is one of them that comes to mind. I think many Ihub members can thank him for the huge losses they took in stocks like GERS, WNBD, Seaway Valley (SEVA), HCKI, SPNG and many more. Bottom line: never believe what those "gurus" tell you about stocks. Stick to what the filings tell you, and if the stock doesn't have filings, then don't touch it.


Posted by Scamfighter @ 2010-02-07 12:48



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Scamfighter, open your eyes, Janice Shell is being sued!!!!

6. THIS COURT ORDERS that Robert Zumbrunnen, Matt Brown and InvestorsHub.com Inc. provide the names and addresses of the following of its members and posters: Stratey, itlogic, Jim Bishop, Janice Shell


Posted by LAWSUIT AGAINST JANICE SHELL!!!!!! @ 2010-02-07 14:01



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Anthony "Nine Fingers" Elgindy is in jail, Janice tried to defend him in Court. Why on Earth would Janice try to support a convicted securities criminal?


Posted by Evans Gang @ 2010-02-07 14:15



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She is squirming!!!!


Posted by enforcement@sec.gov @ 2010-02-07 17:09



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"Everyone knows she is trying to cover her tracks on IHUB by removing herself as moderator of the very message boards she set up for the sole purpose of manipulation"


Posted by naked shorts exposed @ 2010-02-07 17:11



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Remember this?

"San Francisco-based press release distributor BusinessWire announced late Monday that it has filed a federal court lawsuit against Jeffrey Mitchell, William Ulrich and Janice Shell after they posted an April Fools press release through its service. The company alleges violations of federal and state trademark laws, fraud, breach of contract, defamation and conspiracy and seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief.


Posted by Fake News Releases @ 2010-02-07 17:37



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Police arrested Mr. Brown and six others on May 26, 2009.

Too bad nobody has pictures of him. It would be funny to see the little snot sitting in a jail cell.

Is there any way to get his mug shot? It should be posted all over the Internet.


Posted by frankie fillet @ 2010-02-08 02:00



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Janice is not a shill for the naked shorts!


Posted by Bernie Madoff @ 2010-02-08 22:56



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Who in their right mind would give IHUB their credit card number? Those people are criminals.


Posted by IHUB CRIME SPREE @ 2010-02-09 12:18



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There are many many market makers who have destroyed many many real companies in pink-land by illegal shorting. Bashers are protected by ihub-admins. They are allowed to post nothing backed by proof or documentation, and when people lose money, they are not held accountable for their lies. You push a stock with news and filings and someone buys and then loses money, because they listened to the paid-bashers, you are subject to fines or criminal investigation.

Money is lost because the price of a stock goes down, not up. It is the paid bashers who cause the price of a stock to bottom, not the paid promoters!


Posted by Tom @ 2010-02-09 14:53



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The Pink Sheets on OTCBB stock exchanges are run so market makers and brokerages make money from failures. Illegal naked shorting has been their greatest source of income for the past 20 years. The proposed BBX exchange never saw the light of day because it would have eliminated much of the industry's abuse. Things are finally beginning to change, especially with public anger over Wall Street fraud. The illegal activities going on all over IHUB always point to a select group of individuals who need to be charged with securities fraud.


Posted by IHUB CRIME SPREE @ 2010-02-09 16:16



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Don't forget the biggest connection on Ihub when it came to the scams. Begins with an S and ends with z............


Posted by AboutTime @ 2010-02-09 18:36



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lmao! already got booted from IHUB for posting parts of this news!!! and the scams roll on...2 posts and BOOTED!


Posted by AboutTime @ 2010-02-09 18:45



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You see, IHUB is run by scumbag criminals. It was only a matter of time before those degenerates attracted heat.


Posted by IHUB CRIME SPREE @ 2010-02-09 18:56



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Bottom line... you and only you are responsible for pulling the trigger on the buy side or the sell side. Whether Matt, Janice or Joe Blow creates the pump or the bash- you are responsible. It is educated gambling and no ones should risk money they can't afford to lose. PERIOD.


Posted by Seriously @ 2010-02-10 08:01



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Many companies have been destroyed by the parasites spreading false and misleading information while their employers naked short them to death. What they are doing is illegal. PERIOD!


Posted by Securities Fraud @ 2010-02-10 11:18



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PAGE 48: (Janice Shell) ("I wasn’t a member of his 'club', but I knew many members, and I most certainly did not and do not believe it was the evil cabal that some have described. My impression is that it was a fairly ordinary, if rather pricey, investment club, to which members contributed information, research and stock picks." )

Janice Shell, what's it to you, why do you care? Why did you try to defend this convicted/jailed criminal?


Posted by IHUB CRIME SPREE @ 2010-02-11 13:51



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shakerzzz and Madoffzzz....................


Posted by About Time @ 2010-02-12 08:44

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