 UNITED
STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 16833 / December 19, 2000
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. Phillip H. Ezell, individually
and doing business as 21st Century Funding, Civil
No. 1:00CV0464 (N.D. In.)
The
Commission announced today that it filed an action
against Phillip Ezell, a resident of Fort Wayne,
Indiana, for offering fictitious "prime bank"
instruments over the Internet from March 1998
to August 2000. The Commission alleges that Ezell,
doing business as 21st Century Funding, offered
investment programs involving supposedly risk-free
trading in "bank debenture notes" issued
by the "top banks" of the world. Ezell
claimed that this trading would generate enormous
returns of up to 80 percent per week, that profits
were guaranteed, and that these programs were
regulated by the United States Federal Reserve
or the International Chamber of Commerce. According
to the complaint, these trading programs do not
exist, and Ezell's representations about them
were false. The Commission also claims that, through
his Internet websites offering these products,
Ezell improperly offered to sell unregistered
securities to potential investors.
The
complaint alleges that, through these actions,
Ezell violated Sections 5(c), 17(a)(1), and 17(a)(3)
of the Securities Act of 1933. The Commission
requests that the Court enter preliminary and
permanent injunctions against Ezell to prevent
him from future violations of the antifraud and
registration provisions of the securities laws.
The Commission is also seeking other relief, including
an immediate accounting of any money Ezell collected,
disgorgement of those funds, and an appropriate
civil monetary penalty.
from:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16833.htm
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