SEC v. Farnsworth

Farnsworth allegedly defrauded investors in Vinco Ventures, Inc. through false and misleading statements. According to the SEC’s complaint, between at least January 2021 and April 2023, Farnsworth secretly controlled Vinco. The complaint alleges that Farnsworth sought to conceal his role at Vinco because he knew the SEC and the Department of Justice were investigating his conduct in connection with MoviePass, Inc., and its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, Inc. (HMNY). As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, Farnsworth intended to merge a private entity he controlled, Zash Global Media and Entertainment Corporation, into Vinco, and authorized the issuance of press releases and filings with the Commission describing the planned combination of Vinco’s proprietary platform with Zash’s state-of-the-art analytics and distribution technology. The complaint alleges Farnsworth drafted, reviewed, or approved false or misleading statements concerning the operations of two affiliated companies that exaggerated, among other things, the affiliated companies’ capabilities and Vinco’s expectations of the revenue the affiliated companies would generate. As alleged, Farnsworth extracted from Vinco millions of dollars for himself through his undisclosed control of the company.

Summary generated from official Securities and Exchange Commission press release