Opinion ID: 2769575
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fraudulent-Stock Scheme

Text: Lawrence Hartman and Richard Pope began operating a fraudulent-stock scheme in 2003. Hartman would procure valueless United States shell companies that did no real business but appeared to be legitimate publicly-traded entities. Pope would then recruit salespeople to sell stock in those companies to investors. Hartman and others created brochures, websites, and press releases containing fabricated information meant to portray the shell companies as legitimate 2 Case: 13-13528 Date Filed: 01/13/2015 Page: 3 of 27 investment opportunities. Pope’s salespeople, called “advisors,” would call potential investors, mostly in the United Kingdom, and try to sell them stocks in the shell companies using “scripts” based on fabricated information intended to make the companies look more attractive. Odoni played two key roles in the fraudulent-stock scheme. First, he managed Bishop and Parkes, an advisor group that employed a sales floor of advisors, i.e., individuals who used fabricated scripts to sell stocks in the valueless shell companies. Odoni’s responsibilities at Bishop and Parkes included managing the sales floor, helping advisors “write good scripts,” and ensuring advisors were “chasing money in.” In exchange for his work, Odoni received a portion of the investors’ funds. Second, Odoni served as the CEO and sole director of Nanoforce Incorporated, one of the valueless shell companies Hartman procured. Salespeople told investors that Nanoforce was a technology business, although, in reality, Nanoforce did no business. In early May 2005, Odoni helped create a website for Nanoforce and told Hartman “[i]t would probably look better” to use a webhosting company located in the United States. In June 2005, Odoni circulated a Nanoforce press release to Paul Gunter, Richard Pope, and Zibiah Gunter, among others. The press release contained false statements about Nanoforce’s business and efforts to expand. Beginning in mid-2005, Odoni signed board resolutions approving the 3 Case: 13-13528 Date Filed: 01/13/2015 Page: 4 of 27 issuance of Nanoforce stock to investors who had purchased shares. From May 25, 2005, through December 20, 2005, advisor groups convinced investors to buy more than $12 million of worthless Nanoforce stock.