 UNITED
STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
Litigation Release No.16969 / April 18, 2001
SEC
v. ERIC E. RESTEINER, ET AL., Civil Action No.
01-CV-10637 (PBS) (D. Mass.) (U.S. District Court
for the District of Massachusetts - Filed April
16, 2001)
SEC
Obtains Emergency Relief To Halt Fraudulent Trading
Scheme That Victimized Members of the Christian
Science Church
The
Securities and Exchange Commission announced today
that the United States District Court for the
District of Massachusetts issued temporary restraining
orders against two individuals and two Massachusetts-based
companies relating to a fraudulent trading scheme
that raised approximately $22 million from at
least 50 investors, many of whom were members
of the Christian Science Church. The Commission
sought the emergency relief in a civil fraud action
it filed April 16, 2001, against Voldemar A. VonStrasdas
of Nassau, the Bahamas, Charles G. Dyer of Manchester,
Massachusetts, and two Danvers, Massachusetts-based
companies controlled by Dyer, Resource F, LLC
and Bunker Hill Aviation, LLC. The Commission's
complaint also charged two other individuals,
Eric E. Resteiner, most recently of Nassau, the
Bahamas, and Miles M. Harbur of Jupiter, Florida,
for their participation in the fraudulent trading
scheme. In its ruling, the Court prohibited VonStrasdas,
Dyer, Resource F and Bunker Hill from engaging
in further fraudulent activity related to the
trading scheme and froze the assets of all Defendants.
According
to the complaint, the Defendants fraudulently
offered and sold unregistered securities in an
international bank-related financial instrument
trading program that was completely fictitious.
The Defendants promoted their trading program
under various names, including Swiss Asset Management,
Wall Street South, and Resource F. The Commission
alleged that Resteiner, Harbur, VonStrasdas, and
Dyer solicited investors using misrepresentations
typical of "Prime Bank"-type investment
frauds, including that the investment involved
high-quality debt instruments of very large international
banks, that the investors' principal was never
at risk and could be returned after one year,
and that investors would receive profits of approximately
4-5% every month (or 48-60% annually).
During
the initial stages of the fraud, investors received
monthly payments that the Defendants represented
were "profits" on their investment.
However, monthly payments to investors ceased
by May 2000. Despite numerous requests, no known
investors have received the return of their investment.
Furthermore, since the cessation of monthly payments,
VonStrasdas has regularly sent lulling letters
to investors making excuses for the cessation
of payments, and making the false statements that
he expected trading and monthly payments to investors
to resume soon. More recently, VonStrasdas and
Dyer have each solicited investors to contribute
money to purported legal efforts to obtain the
return of investors' funds.
The
Court entered the temporary restraining orders
against Defendants VonStrasdas, Dyer, Resource
F, and Bunker Hill Aviation, to prohibit them
from engaging in further fraudulent activity and
ordered the asset freezes of each of the Defendants
to ensure that assetswill be preserved to pay
investors their lost principal.
The
Commission also seeks preliminary and permanent
injunctions against each of the Defendants to
prevent them from continuing to violate relevant
provisions of the federal securities laws, repatriation
of investor funds funneled to foreign bank accounts,
disgorgement of monies fraudulently received by
the Defendants, plus prejudgment interest, and
civil monetary penalties from each of the Defendants.
According to the complaint, Resteiner, Harbur,
VonStrasdas, Dyer, Resource F, and Bunker Hill
Aviation, variously, violated the antifraud, securities
registration, and broker registration provisions
of the federal securities laws, including Sections
5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of
1933, and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
The
Commission staff would like to thank the State
of Kansas, Office of the Securities Commissioner,
for their assistance in this matter.
For
further information, see Litigation Release No.16963.
from:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16969.htm
UNITED
STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
Litigation Release No. 16963 / April 16, 2001
SEC
v. ERIC E. RESTEINER, ET AL., Civil Action No.
01-10637 (PBS) (D. Mass.) (U.S. District Court
for the District of Massachusetts - Filed April
16, 2001)
SEC
FILES EMERGENCY ENFORCEMENT ACTION TO HALT FRAUDULENT
TRADING SCHEME THAT TARGETED MANY CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission announced today
that it filed an emergency civil fraud action
against four individuals and two Massachusetts-based
companies involved in a fraudulent trading scheme
that raised approximately $22 million from at
least 50 investors, many of whom were members
of the Christian Science Church. The Commission
has asked the court to enter an immediate temporary
restraining order against Voldemar A. VonStrasdas
of Nassau, the Bahamas, Charles G. Dyer of Manchester,
Massachusetts, and two Danvers, Massachusetts-based
companies controlled by Dyer, Resource F, LLC
and Bunker Hill Aviation, LLC, to prohibit them
from engaging in further fraudulent activity or
continuing to accept or deposit additional investor
funds. The Commission's complaint also charges
two other individuals, Eric E. Resteiner, most
recently of Nassau, the Bahamas, and Miles M.
Harbur of Jupiter, Florida, for their participation
in the fraudulent trading scheme, and seeks to
immediately freeze the assets of all the Defendants.
According
to the complaint, the Defendants fraudulently
offered and sold securities in an international
bank-related financial instrument trading program
that was completely fictitious. The Defendants
promoted their trading program under various names,
including Swiss Asset Management, Wall Street
South, and Resource F. The Commission alleged
that Resteiner, Harbur, VonStrasdas, and Dyer
solicited investors using misrepresentations typical
of "Prime Bank"-type investment frauds,
including that the investment involved high-quality
debt instruments of very large international banks,
that the investors' principal was never at risk
and could be returned after one year, and that
investors would receive profits of approximately
4-5% every month (or 48-60% annually). The Commission
further alleged that Dyer and Resource F funneled
investor funds to bank accounts in the Bahamas
controlled by one or more of the Defendants, and
Bunker Hill Aviation received payments for administering
the investment scheme. In addition, the Commission
alleged that Dyer misappropriated at least $795,000
of investor funds, and used those funds to, among
other things, buy a golf course in Georgia, finance
the purchase of an airplane by one of his creditors,
and purchase an interest in a restaurant in Boston,
Massachusetts.
During
the initial stages of the fraud, investors received
monthly payments that the Defendants represented
were "profits" on their investment.
However, monthly payments to Resource F investors
ceased around May 2000. To date, although requested,
no investors are known to have received the return
of their investment, as promised by the Defendants.
Furthermore, since the cessation of monthly payments,
VonStrasdas has regularly sent lulling letters
to investors making excuses for the cessation
of payments, and making the falsestatements that
he expected trading and monthly payments to investors
to resume soon. More recently, VonStrasdas and
Dyer have each solicited investors to contribute
money to purported legal efforts to obtain the
return of investors' funds.
According
to the complaint, Resteiner, Harbur, VonStrasdas,
Dyer, Resource F, and Bunker Hill Aviation, variously,
violated the antifraud, securities registration,
and broker registration provisions of the federal
securities laws, including Sections 5(a), 5(c),
and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Sections
10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Commission
seeks a temporary restraining order against Defendants
VonStrasdas, Dyer, Resource F, and Bunker Hill
Aviation, to prohibit them from engaging in further
fraudulent activity or continuing to accept or
deposit additional investor funds. The Commission
further seeks to freeze assets of each of the
Defendants to ensure that they will be preserved
to pay investors their lost principal, to enjoin
each of the Defendants from continuing to violate
relevant provisions of the federal securities
laws, repatriation of investor funds funneled
to foreign bank accounts, disgorgement of monies
fraudulently received by the Defendants, plus
prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties
from each of the Defendants.
from:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16963.htm
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