Fake Energy Company Stock Scheme Yields Civil Penalties to SEC

The CEO of a purported energy company and an associate must each pay the SEC about $461,000 in civil penalties for a pump-and-dump scheme involving the company’s stock, a federal court ruled.

Enerkon Solar International Inc. CEO Benjamin Ballout and Mohamed Zayed, who had an unofficial role, are both permanently barred from participating in any future penny stock offering, Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks said Wednesday for the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida. And Ballout may never serve as a public company’s director or officer, Middlebrooks said.

Zayed, a citizen and resident of Egypt, who was allegedly ...