Another charged in Holmdel penny stock scam
A second man has been charged with defrauding investors in a penny stock scheme that was operated in part by a Holmdel investor.
Donald S. Toomer, 44, a Las Vegas investment adviser, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for providing clients who lost money in a so-called "pump-and-dump" scheme, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
The charges came shortly after Samuel DelPresto of Holmdel pleaded guilty to artificially inflating the stocks of four publicly traded companies and then selling them in a scam that netted him about $13 million.
It is the second time DelPresto, 48, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
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Toomer also faces a U.S. Securities Exchange Commission lawsuit.
DelPresto and his company, MLF Group, from 2008 to 2010 manipulated the stock of four companies: BioNeutral Group, NXT Nutritional Holdings Inc., Mesa Energy Holdings Inc. and Clear-Lite Holdings, according to the SEC lawsuit.
DelPresto and an unnamed individual recruited Toomer to participate. Toomer would buy the stock of three of the companies – NXT, Mesa and Clear-Lite – in his clients' portfolios in exchange for 10 percent of the total shares he had his clients buy, helping to boost the stock prices, SEC documents said.
They then would sell the stocks at artificially inflated prices, causing the prices to fall, authorities said.
A message left for Toomer's attorney was not immediately returned.
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Toomer, who lives in Henderson, Nevada, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and investment adviser fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of investment adviser fraud.
The first count carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense. The securities and investment adviser fraud counts carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
Michael L. Diamond; 732-643-4038; mdiamond@gannettnj.com