The SEC has announced the successful resolution of its trial against a plastics industry executive charged with lying in SEC filings regarding his ownership of Musicland Stores Corporation stock. The executive and a trust he controlled have been ordered by a federal judge to pay $49.5 million in a final judgment against them. The executive failed to file truthful 13D forms and neglected to make other required filings, which are required when a person acquires beneficial ownership of more than 5 percent of a voting class of a company's publicly traded stock. Because of this the execute and the trust thereby materially misrepresented their ownership of Musicland stock.
Following a 10-day trial in May in federal court in Newark, N.J., a jury returned a verdict finding the executive liable for securities fraud and disclosure violations on all counts against him. The jury also found the MAAA Trust controlled by him liable for disclosure violations.
Judge Orders Plastics Executive to Pay $49.5 Million in SEC Case