Falcon Ridge Development, Inc. and Fred M. Montano – Florida Stock Manipulation Litigation Attorney

Russell L. Forkey

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Falcon Ridge Development, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 13-cv-1101 (E.D. Pa.)

SEC CHARGES FALCON RIDGE DEVELOPMENT, INC. AND ITS PRESIDENT AND CEO FOR MARKET MANIPULATION SCHEME

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it charged Falcon Ridge Development, Inc. (“Falcon Ridge”) and its President and CEO, Fred M. Montano, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with engaging in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the market for Falcon Ridge’s common stock. Falcon Ridge is a New Mexico real estate company, headquartered in Albuquerque. The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania separately announced criminal charges involving the same conduct.

The Commission’s action, filed in federal district court in Philadelphia, alleges that, from at least August through November 2008, Montano, who claimed to control Falcon Ridge’s common stock, arranged with an individual (the “Cooperator”) he believed had connections to corrupt registered representatives to generate purchases of the company’s stock in exchange for cash kickbacks. In reality, the Cooperator was, at all times, secretly cooperating with the FBI. The Commission alleges that, in furtherance of the scheme, Montano paid $1,000 to orchestrate the purchase of 625,000 shares of Falcon Ridge common stock by the Cooperator, in part, through a matched trade designed by Montano to ensure that he received proceeds from the purchases. In addition, Montano shared nonpublic news releases and a confidential shareholder list with the Cooperator, and coordinated the release of news with the illegal purchases in the stock.

The complaint further alleges that Montano engaged in several telephone conversations with the Cooperator in which Montano described his intent and confirmed his involvement in the manipulation. Through these activities, Montano created artificial trading activity, injected artificial information into the marketplace, and created a false impression of supply and demand for Falcon Ridge’s stock.

The complaint alleges violations of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder against Falcon Ridge and Montano. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, together with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against both defendants, and penny stock and officer and director bars against Montano.

Contact Us:

With extensive courtroom, arbitration and mediation experience and an in-depth understanding of securities law, our firm provides all of our clients with the personal service they deserve. Handling cases worth $25,000 or more, we represent clients throughout Florida and across the United States, as well as for foreign individuals that invested in U.S. banks or brokerage firms. Contact us to arrange your free initial consultation.

At the Fort Lauderdale Law Office of Russell L. Forkey, we represent clients throughout South and Central Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Sunrise, Plantation, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Delray, Boynton Beach, Hollywood, Lake Worth, Royal Palm Beach, Manalapan, Jupiter, Gulf Stream, Wellington, Fort Pierce, Stuart, Palm City, Jupiter, Miami, Orlando, Maitland, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Heathrow, Melbourne, Palm Bay, Cocoa Beach, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, Deland, New Smyrna Beach, Ormand Beach, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Dade County, Orange County, Seminole County, Martin County, Brevard County, Indian River County, Volusia County and Monroe County, Florida. The law office of Russell L. Forkey also represents South American, Canadian and other foreign residents that do business with U.S. financial institutions, investment advisors, brokerage and precious metal firms.

Client Reviews

"I have placed great trust in Mr Forkey."

D.E.

Contact Us

  1. 1 Free Consultation
  2. 2 Over 30 Years of Experience
  3. 3 Serving the Entire USA

Fill out the contact form or call us at 561-406-4644 to schedule your free consultation.

Leave Us a Message