Securities & Exchange Commission v. North American Research & Development Corp.

375 F. Supp. 465, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9622
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 8, 1974
Docket67 Civ. 3724
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 375 F. Supp. 465 (Securities & Exchange Commission v. North American Research & Development Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities & Exchange Commission v. North American Research & Development Corp., 375 F. Supp. 465, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9622 (S.D.N.Y. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

This action was commenced in September 1967 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against North American Research and Development Corporation (North American) and forty-two other defendants for a permanent injunction against continued *466 violations of the registration 1 and anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 2 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 3 and the rules and regulations thereunder. 4 In essence, the defendants were charged, singly and in concert, with selling blocks of unregistered North American stock and with fraudulent conduct in the sale of the stock. As the case progressed from the commencement of suit, when plaintiff applied for preliminary injunctive relief, through an appeal and remand as to some defendants, permanent injunctions or other dispositions were entered as to all defendants except North American, Edward White, its chief executive officer, K. Ralph Bowman, its secretary-treasurer, and Alfred Blumberg, a stock broker who was president of an inactive brokerage firm and who had been engaged in various aspects of the securities business. As to the latter four, preliminary injunctive relief was in effect pending a trial on the merits. 5

Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief was based upon extensive affidavits and testimony taken before then District Judge Walter R. Mansfield. The hearing extended over seven days in January 1968, during which twenty-four witnesses, including the defendants White, Bowman and Blumberg testified. Thereafter, in February 1968, Judge Mansfield rendered a decision and made extensive findings and conclusions of law to the effect that plaintiff had established a strong prima facie case. 6 Preliminary injunctive relief was granted against most defendants, including North American, White and Bowman; it was denied as to seven defendants, including Blumberg. Upon cross-appeals the order was upheld except insofar as it denied injunctive relief against Blumberg and others, and accordingly was remanded for further proceedings. 7 Upon remand, although afforded the opportunity to introduce additional evidence, Blumberg, as well as the others, elected to stand on the existing record. After hearing oral argument, Judge Mansfield found that Blumberg had violated the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the securities acts in the sale and distribution of North American stocks, and granted a preliminary injunction against him. In September 1972, Judge Motley granted summary judgment against the corporation, North American and Bowman, finding that each had violated the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the securities acts as alleged in the complaint, but reserved for trial the scope of injunctive relief, if any, to be issued against them. Thus, the unresolved issues now before the court are on plaintiff’s application for final judgment against White and Blumberg, and if plaintiff sustains its burden of proof, the scope of the relief to be granted against them, North American and Bowman. 8

The key figure in the affairs of North American was the defendant Edward White, who conceived a scheme to acquire a worthless corporate shell through control of the issued stock of an inactive publicly-held corporation, North American, formerly Utah Fortuna Gold Company. White and the other defendants were charged with promoting dis *467 tribution of the balance of the issued stock with a view of introducing it onto the over-the-counter market in the United States, creating a demand for it, instigating the trading of it, and running up its market price, all for the benefit of himself and a group working with him in the distribution of the stock. A thumbnail sketch of the scheme is succinctly set forth by Judge Mansfield:

“On April 27, 1967 White acquired control of such a worthless corporate shell, a Utah company called Utah Fortuna Gold Company, the name of which was later changed by him to North American. Although no market for its stock had existed for years, within three months, as the result of a carefully laid and executed plan of the White-Freeman-Naft trio, approximately 200,000 shares of its stock was distributed via Canadian accounts to broker-dealers and the public in the United States, trading of the stock was initiated on the over-the-counter market, and the price of the stock, as a result of the group’s skillful promotion, was run up during the same short period from y2 cent per share over-the-counter to more than $6.00 per share, or more than 1200%, even though the corporation did not carry on any commercial operations during the period and its assets were of doubtful value. On July 20, 1967, the bubble burst when trading in the shares was suspended by the SEC.” 9

The fraud charge centered about a “Progress Report” of North American and oral statements and representations made by individual defendants to dealers and investors. The charge was that the “Progress Report” omitted any financial information and was false and misleading in various other respects, including its portrayal of men working at the North American plant, which gave the impression that it was currently in operation in July 1967, when in fact the plant had not been operating or in production since 1964. The report was distributed to various stock brokers and investors in the United States and was one of the principal methods used to sell and distribute in the United States shares of North American.

Plaintiff at the trial, pursuant to Rule 65(a) (2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, relied in large measure upon the substantial testimony of the twenty-four witnesses who testified and the numerous exhibits admitted in evidence during the seven-day hearing before Judge Mansfield on the motion for preliminary injunctive relief. This court has read and studied the voluminous transcript of that hearing. Plaintiff, in addition to the admissible evidence of the prior proceeding, called at this trial as witnesses defendants Blumberg and White, each of whom, as already noted, testified at the hearing on the motion for preliminary injunctions, at which they were represented by their respective counsel. 10 Judge Mansfield’s decision was based, as he noted, not only upon the affidavits submitted by the parties, but upon his “observation and careful appraisal of the witnesses” 11 who testified before him with respect to disputed fact issues. This court, too, has had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the two defendants White and Blumberg. Each impressed this court as evasive and at times nonresponsive, with a quick and glib explanation for questioned conduct.

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Related

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cooper
402 F. Supp. 516 (S.D. New York, 1975)
White v. Jaegerman
391 F. Supp. 438 (S.D. New York, 1975)
Eisman v. Pan American World Airlines
336 F. Supp. 543 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
375 F. Supp. 465, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-exchange-commission-v-north-american-research-development-nysd-1974.