2015-12-16 sec-litreleases litigation_release 68 KB 4,509 chars

SEC v. Oxford City Football Club, Inc.; and Thomas Anthony Guerriero, No. LR-23429, Southern District of Florida (Dec. 16, 2015) — Press Release

raw: Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero

Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero, No. LR-23429 (Dec. 16, 2015)

Caption
SEC v. Oxford City Football Club, Inc, et al.
summary

The U

paragraph

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO, Thomas Anthony Guerriero, with securities fraud for orchestrating a $6.5 million boiler room scheme that misled inexperienced investors into buying unregistered stock based on elaborate falsehoods. Guerriero falsely claimed the company owned lucrative real estate, a radio network, an online university, and profitable sports facilities, when in reality it had only $1 million in assets, no radio station, no university, and unprofitable lower-division soccer teams. Using deceptive scripts, fake recordings, and aliases, Guerriero’s sales team pressured investors with false promises of dividends and discounted shares, while threatening lawsuits for nonpayment. The SEC filed civil charges under Sections 10(b), 5(a), 17(a), and others, seeking asset freezes, disgorgement, civil penalties, and officer/director bars, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office simultaneously criminally charged Guerriero with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and obstruction of justice.

narrative

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO, Thomas Anthony Guerriero, with securities fraud for orchestrating a $6.5 million boiler room scheme that misled inexperienced investors into buying unregistered stock based on elaborate falsehoods. Guerriero falsely claimed the company owned lucrative real estate, a radio network, an online university, and profitable sports facilities, when in reality it had only $1 million in assets, no radio station, no university, and unprofitable lower-division soccer teams. Using deceptive scripts, fake recordings, and aliases, Guerriero’s sales team pressured investors with false promises of dividends and discounted shares, while threatening lawsuits for nonpayment. The SEC filed civil charges under Sections 10(b), 5(a), 17(a), and others, seeking asset freezes, disgorgement, civil penalties, and officer/director bars, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office simultaneously criminally charged Guerriero with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO, Thomas Anthony Guerriero, with securities fraud for orchestrating a $6.5 million boiler room scheme that misled inexperienced investors into buying unregistered stock based on elaborate falsehoods about the company’s assets and profitability. Guerriero used deceptive sales scripts, fake identities, and fabricated claims—including nonexistent real estate holdings, a non-existent online university, and a non-operational radio network—to inflate the company’s value, while secretly controlling the stock price and threatening investors with false legal action for non-payment. The SEC alleged that Oxford City, which owned only minor stakes in two unprofitable U.K. soccer teams, was financially insolvent and illegally prohibited from paying promised dividends. The court granted an emergency asset freeze against Guerriero and his entity GCE Wealth, Inc., while the U.S. Attorney’s Office separately criminally charged Guerriero with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement, civil penalties, and permanent bars from serving as an officer or director of a public company.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
boiler-room (100%)
Court
Southern District of Florida
Outcome
charged · 2015-12-11
Victim loss
$238,000,000
Entity
Oxford City Football Club, Inc.
CIK
0001414295
Classified boiler-room(confidence 100%). EDGAR detection: forms Form D· recall 50% / precision 4%. detection rule →
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionOxford City Football Club, Inc.Thomas Anthony Guerriero
Keywords
oxford cityguerrierooxfordcitycity footballfootball clubincsecuritiesthomas anthonyanthony guerrierosecurities exchangeclubexchangemillioninvestors

Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 6
  • $495.00M $495 million $100M–$1B
  • $238.00M $238 million $100M–$1B
  • $100.00M $100 million $100M–$1B
  • $20.00M $20 million $10M–$100M
  • $6.50M $6.5 million $1M–$10M
  • $1.00M $1 million $1M–$10M
Entities 2
  • agency Securities and Exchange Commission
  • organization Securities and Exchange Commission
Triples 4
  • Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero
  • Securities and Exchange Commission obtains asset freeze in case against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO
  • Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero for securities violations
  • Securities and Exchange Commission obtains asset freeze against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero
Text layers
Extracted body text (4,509c)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23429 / December 16, 2015 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero, Civil Action No. 15-CV-62594-KMW (S.D. Fla.) SEC Obtains Asset Freeze and Other Emergency Relief in Case Against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Its CEO On December 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida charging Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO, Thomas Anthony Guerriero, with securities fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws. The Honorable Kathleen M. Williams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, and other emergency relief against Oxford City, Guerriero, and relief defendant GCE Wealth, Inc., an entity owned and controlled by Guerriero. In its complaint, the SEC alleges that Guerriero, as CEO of Oxford City, used deceptive tactics and a boiler room of salespeople to raise more than $6.5 million from primarily inexperienced investors who were misled to believe that the company was a thriving conglomerate of sports teams, academic institutions, and real estate holdings. In reality, the company was losing millions of dollars each year and turning zero profit from its two lower-division soccer teams in the U.K. According to the SEC's complaint: Since at least August 2013, Guerriero operated a classic boiler room scheme under the guise of nominal legitimate businesses through which millions of unregistered shares of stock were sold to investors who were deceived about the stock value and potential profits. Guerriero's salespeople sold Oxford City stock to the public based on leads lists he purchased from third parties. Guerriero crafted scripts for the salespeople, who used aliases to mask their true identities. Prospective investors were told they were being offered a limited-time deal to purchase Oxford City shares at a deep discount from the publicly quoted price. Unbeknownst to the victims, the stock price was controlled by Guerriero. Guerriero claimed to record phone conversations with potential investors using a "verbal verification system" that supposedly tied the stock "transaction" to their social security numbers and dates of birth. In reality, Guerriero and his associates simply pressed a button on their phone to make a sound signaling the purported start of a recording. If investors later refused to pay, Guerriero would threaten them with lawsuits based on their "recorded" verbal commitment. Investors were falsely told that Oxford City would pay a 50-cents-per-share dividend within a year. In reality, the company was losing millions of dollars a year and was legally prohibited from paying a dividend. Oxford City purportedly had real estate holdings worth approximately $100 million and owned a radio broadcast network that projected profits of almost $20 million. Oxford City actually had assets of approximately $1 million and never owned a radio station - it simply purchased one hour of air time per week. Oxford City claimed to own an online university with students already enrolled and projected profits of $495 million for the upcoming five-year period. In reality, there was no such university that ever enrolled a student or had revenue. Oxford City purported it would earn more than $238 million over five years from existing and new sports-related facilities. The truth was that Oxford City owned a minority interest in a lower division English soccer club, which generated a small amount of revenue but never turned a profit. The SEC's complaint charges Guerriero and Oxford City with violations of Section 10(b) of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint also charges Guerriero with violation of Section 20(b) of the Exchange Act, and names GCE Wealth, Inc., an entity owned by Guerriero, as a relief defendant. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, civil penalties, and penny stock and officer and director bars. In a related matter, on December 11, 2015, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced that Guerriero has been criminally charged with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and witness tampering and obstruction of justice during an SEC investigation. SEC Complaint
OCR text (4,509c · html-text · 99% conf)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23429 / December 16, 2015 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Thomas Anthony Guerriero, Civil Action No. 15-CV-62594-KMW (S.D. Fla.) SEC Obtains Asset Freeze and Other Emergency Relief in Case Against Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and Its CEO On December 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida charging Oxford City Football Club, Inc. and its CEO, Thomas Anthony Guerriero, with securities fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws. The Honorable Kathleen M. Williams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, and other emergency relief against Oxford City, Guerriero, and relief defendant GCE Wealth, Inc., an entity owned and controlled by Guerriero. In its complaint, the SEC alleges that Guerriero, as CEO of Oxford City, used deceptive tactics and a boiler room of salespeople to raise more than $6.5 million from primarily inexperienced investors who were misled to believe that the company was a thriving conglomerate of sports teams, academic institutions, and real estate holdings. In reality, the company was losing millions of dollars each year and turning zero profit from its two lower-division soccer teams in the U.K. According to the SEC's complaint: Since at least August 2013, Guerriero operated a classic boiler room scheme under the guise of nominal legitimate businesses through which millions of unregistered shares of stock were sold to investors who were deceived about the stock value and potential profits. Guerriero's salespeople sold Oxford City stock to the public based on leads lists he purchased from third parties. Guerriero crafted scripts for the salespeople, who used aliases to mask their true identities. Prospective investors were told they were being offered a limited-time deal to purchase Oxford City shares at a deep discount from the publicly quoted price. Unbeknownst to the victims, the stock price was controlled by Guerriero. Guerriero claimed to record phone conversations with potential investors using a "verbal verification system" that supposedly tied the stock "transaction" to their social security numbers and dates of birth. In reality, Guerriero and his associates simply pressed a button on their phone to make a sound signaling the purported start of a recording. If investors later refused to pay, Guerriero would threaten them with lawsuits based on their "recorded" verbal commitment. Investors were falsely told that Oxford City would pay a 50-cents-per-share dividend within a year. In reality, the company was losing millions of dollars a year and was legally prohibited from paying a dividend. Oxford City purportedly had real estate holdings worth approximately $100 million and owned a radio broadcast network that projected profits of almost $20 million. Oxford City actually had assets of approximately $1 million and never owned a radio station - it simply purchased one hour of air time per week. Oxford City claimed to own an online university with students already enrolled and projected profits of $495 million for the upcoming five-year period. In reality, there was no such university that ever enrolled a student or had revenue. Oxford City purported it would earn more than $238 million over five years from existing and new sports-related facilities. The truth was that Oxford City owned a minority interest in a lower division English soccer club, which generated a small amount of revenue but never turned a profit. The SEC's complaint charges Guerriero and Oxford City with violations of Section 10(b) of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint also charges Guerriero with violation of Section 20(b) of the Exchange Act, and names GCE Wealth, Inc., an entity owned by Guerriero, as a relief defendant. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, civil penalties, and penny stock and officer and director bars. In a related matter, on December 11, 2015, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced that Guerriero has been criminally charged with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and witness tampering and obstruction of justice during an SEC investigation. SEC Complaint