SEC v. Francisco Abellan Villena

Francisco Abellan Villena allegedly masterminded a scheme where, aided by James B. Panther, Jr. and two other co-defendants, he hid his ownership and sales of Biozoom, Inc. shares by using sham purchase agreements, a network of nominees, anonymizing techniques, and other deceptive practices, according to the SEC. Panther also allegedly helped facilitate Abellan’s use of alleged manipulative trading techniques and carry out an extensive promotional campaign to artificially inflate Biozoom’s share price. The alleged scheme culminated in the defendants’ sales of Biozoom stock, which netted over $33 million in unlawful proceeds, according to the SEC.

Summary generated from official Securities and Exchange Commission press release