The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued public administrative proceedings against Thomas Carter Ronk, in accordance with Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act.
Ronk, age 50, is a resident of Corona Del Mar, California and the former President and Director of Casablanca Mining and former official at WealthMakers. He submitted an Offer of Settlement, which the Commission accepted. Without admitting or denying findings, Ronk consents to the entry of the Order, which imposes remedial sanctions, including banning him from associating with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, or municipal advisor.
The SEC commission alleged that Ronk, during the period of May 2012 to July 2017, participated in three separate fraudulent schemes:
- fraudulent promotional efforts to sell or assist in the sale of the common stock of microcap issuers Casablanca and Gepco, Ltd. (“Gepco”), including, by making numerous misleading statements or
misstatements of material fact while promoting the sale of these stocks to investors. - Making false statements to prospective investors in connection with a private stock offering by
WealthMakers, a private company he co-founded. - Manipulating the trading price of the common stock of Casablanca and Gepco during the period from May 2012 to September 2014.
According to the commission:
“Rather than allow the markets to set the prices of the companies’ securities through the natural interplay of supply and demand, the Defendant engaged in numerous practices aimed at misleading the market to increase and maintain artificially high prices so that he and others could sell of their holdings for substantial gains.”
Source: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2023/ia-6314.pdf
How very naughty