William L. Haynes
Pre-Prepare to Lose
A South Florida broker-dealer and its alleged fund manager have
settled charges that they defrauded about 300 investors out of nearly
$8 million.
William Haynes was the director and fund manager of Global
Asset Ltd. and chief executive officer of Global Services
Group LLC and Global Internet Fund Group Inc.
For two years Global and Haynes persuaded investors through unsolicited
phone calls to buy securities in companies like AT&T Corp or
to buy "pre-initial-public-offering" stock, the regulator alleged.
It was said that sales agents often told investors that the issuers
of the private securities would engage in a IPO in the next one to
six months, at the offering price of two to three times the price
Global was offering the stock.
The complaint also alleged that the agents misappropriated funds
after telling people they would use it to buy major exchange-traded
stocks like AT&T.
09/28/01 - Bahamas-registered Global Asset Partners
Ltd., which described itself as a private asset management company
located in The Bahamas, has had its assets frozen in the United States
after a lawsuit was filed by the SEC.
Defendants are Global Asset Partners Ltd., Global Services Group
LLC, of Wyoming; Global Internet Fund Group Inc., of Florida; and
William L. Haynes, 35, of Florida. A relief defendant is Centurion
International LLC, which is registered in Nevada. Without
admitting or denying the allegations, they consented to all of the
requested relief.
Receiver Info:
From at least May 1999 and continuing into 2001, the defendants
raised approximately $7-8 million from investors located throughout
the world making material misrepresentations and omissions to investors
concerning, among other things, the imminence of the public offerings
for the pre-IPO stock, the anticipated price the pre-IPO stock would
trade at upon becoming public, registration of stocks in private
accounts in the investor's name, rights of the investors upon closing
their accounts, and Global's purported expertise in research and
analysis.
Jane W. Moscowitz, Esq., the Receiver for Global, has taken a series
of actions designed to protect the interests of shareholders and
creditors.
The Receiver has approximately $200,000 in various bank and brokerage
accounts controlled by Robert Anzivino, who was affiliated
with Global. Litigation over those accounts is continuing.
The Receiver's investigation has revealed the following: On paper,
Global was an offshore fund selling its shares offshore to non-United
States investors. In fact, although the fund was incorporated in
Nassau and had a mail drop there, its offices and sales force were
located in Boca Raton, Florida.
Contrary to its formal description of itself as a "fund," it
held itself out to its customers as a broker-dealer, which was selling
shares of publicity-traded "Blue Chips" and shares of private
companies about to go public and which, when they would begin trading,
would do so at multiples of the prices per share at which they were
buying.
In fact, the customers never "owned," even on paper, the
shares in the public stocks or private placements which they believed
they were buying. Moreover, it is unclear whether all of the stock
in the "Blue Chips" was really purchased even for the companies'
account.
What is known, is that most of the private companies never went
public and the two which did are trading at a small fraction of the
price paid by customers. What also appears to be settled, is that
investors funds were never segregated or escrowed, but were spent
on salaries, overhead and "profit," or simply diverted.
Unfortunately, other than the assets described above, virtually
nothing of the monies raised from investors is left. The Receiver
anticipates that shareholder and creditor claims will exceed $5 million.
As a result, the Receiver believes that any recovery for investors
will be realized only through recoveries against responsible third
parties. The receiver is currently investigating potential lawsuits
and will, if she deems it appropriate, seek Court approval to file
suit.
Obviously, there are no guarantees as to whether and to what extent
assets and property will be recovered for the Receivership Estates
such that a distribution of money can be made to its shareholders
and creditors.
Similarly, if the receiver is successful in recovering sufficient
assets to make a distribution, there is no certainty as to when such
a distribution will be made.
jmoscowitz@mmmpa.com
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