Investment Company Owners Accused of $81 Million Fraud by SEC

The co-owners of a New York investment company, along with several others, generated at least $81 million in illegal proceeds from several schemes to buy large blocks of stock privately and funnel them back into the public market, the SEC alleges.

Alexander Dillon and Cosmin Panait are co-owners of GPL Ventures and GPL Management. They and the companies are accused of acting as unregistered dealers, including by buying more than 1.5 billion shares of HempAmericana Inc. with the intention of using secret stock promotions to generate a profit. Dillon and Panait are accused of privately obtaining discounted stock in more ...