OTC Journal

Surprised SEC didn’t shut them down

Considering these guys have been in trouble with the SEC in year’s past, I’m surprised they haven’t been shut down. They are now in compliance with the disclosure laws – read their disclaimer and you will find as follows: “From time to time MarketByte, LLC sells shares in the open market it receives as compensation for coverage of client companies. Since the shares are received as compensation for services as previously disclosed, and not for investment purposes, the editors do not view the sale of the shares as contradictory to any advice delivered in the content. This should be viewed as a conflict of interest by shareholders or prospective shareholders of the client companies.”

Trust Score

6.9

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Conflicted Penny Stock Promoters With SEC Complaints

Never trust a company that takes $ or cash from carcass company penny stocks...read this article before ever thinking about doing anything with OTC Journal picks

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10613318/1/cel-sci-stock-promoter-has-troubled-sec-past.html

Cel-Sci has paid cash and stock for articles on the Web sites OTC Journal and SmallCapNetwork. Both Web sites, which feature articles, blogs and online newsletters touting penny stocks, urge investors to buy shares in Cel-Sci.

OTC Journal and SmallCapNetwork are entities controlled by Lawrence Isen, a San Diego-based financial writer who has a history of running afoul of investigators with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to agency records.

In December 2007, the SEC filed a civil complaint against Isen, alleging securities law violations stemming from a stock Isen promoted in an OTC Journal newsletter. From February through June 2003, Isen wrote articles urging investors to buy shares of a penny stock called SHEP Technologies, while simultaneously selling 90,000 share of SHEP he received as compensation for his work without disclosing the sales to his readers, according to a copy of the SEC complaint.

Isen consented to a judgment in the SEC complaint without admitting to or denying the allegations of securities fraud. He agreed to pay disgorgement and civil penalties totaling more than $170,000, according to an SEC statement on the resolution of the case.

Far from being put out of business, Isen's stock-touting enterprise continues to thrive, albeit with more visible disclosures.

Paying for stock promotion works, apparently. Cel-Sci forked over 100,000 shares of restricted stock to TGR Group, an affiliate of MarketByte, the Isen-controlled publisher of OTC Journal and SmallCapNetwork, for coverage of the company from June 13 through Dec. 13, 2009, according to the compensation disclosure page of OTC Journal.

Trust Score

10

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Overall