SEC Brought Sound Charges Against Cool Holdings Head Before Deal

The SEC adequately alleged securities fraud and a pump-and-dump scheme against the chairman of Cool Holdings Inc.'s board of directors before he agreed to a $3 million settlement, a federal court ruled.

The electronics retailer’s relationship with Apple Inc. was deteriorating at the time the company made statements about purported plans to increase Cool Holdings’ number of stores, undermining his defenses, Judge Jed S. Rakoff said Thursday for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

• The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Andrew DeFrancesco and four others in January
• DeFrancesco secretly funded fraudulent articles touting Cool Holdings’ ...