SEC Charges Phoenix Real Estate Investor With Stock Manipulation Over Fake WeWork Offer
November 29 2023 - 6:38PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Glickman
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged
Jonathan Larmore, a Phoenix-based real-estate investor, with stock
manipulation tied to a false tender offer for now-bankrupt
WeWork.
The SEC charges also allege that ArciTerra Companies, a
real-estate investment company, and Larmore, who is the company's
chief executive, misappropriated more than $35 million in managed
funds over a number of years.
The SEC alleges that Larmore had, since at least January 2017,
used a "substantial portion" of misappropriated funds from
ArciTerra for family members' expenses and to fund a lifestyle
which included private jets, yachts and expensive residences.
Earlier this month, according to the SEC, Larmore and Cole
Capital Funds, an entity created and controlled by Larmore, issued
a press release saying the firm would purchase 51% of all minority
ownership shares in WeWork for $9 a share.
The offer, priced at more than nine times WeWork's stock price
at the time, prompted shares to more than double after-hours.
Larmore allegedly purchased 72,000 call options in WeWork in the
days before and planned to execute on the trades once the stock
rose.
The SEC said most of the options expired before Larmore could
exercise them due to a delay in issuing the press release.
Larmore and ArciTerra could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2023 18:23 ET (23:23 GMT)
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