Renee
6 years ago
ASPW: SEC Obtains Consent Judgments in Fraudulent Disclosure and Stock Manipulation Case
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2018/lr24268.htm
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained final consent judgments against defendants Peter Kolokouris, Michael Hughes, Ekaterini Kolokouris, Anastasios Kolokouris, Ioannis Kolokouris, Demitrios Kolokouris, Sophia Kolokouris, Michael Papapanu, and Janice Papapanu. Last year, the SEC charged Peter Kolokouris, an Arista "consultant," for engaging in schemes to manipulate the stock price of Arista Power, Inc. ("Arista") and in connection with material misrepresentations and omissions in certain Arista public filings. The SEC also charged Michael T. Hughes, formerly Arista's General Counsel, with the false disclosures scheme. The remaining defendants - relatives of Peter Kolokouris - were charged with violations of Rule 102 of Regulation M.
The final consent judgement against Peter Kolokouris, entered on September 10, 2018 by the Honorable Gregory H. Woods of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, orders Peter Kolokouris to pay disgorgement of $799,000, a civil penalty of $103,564, and prejudgment interest of $84,762, and also imposes a permanent penny-stock bar. The judgment also enjoins Peter Kolokouris from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and the anti-manipulation provisions of Section 9(a)(1) and 9(a)(2) of the Exchange Act and Rule 102 of the anti-manipulation rules of Regulation M. The consent judgment against Michael T. Hughes, orders a $50,000 civil penalty, a three-year bar from serving as an officer or director of a publicly held company, and a three-year penny-stock bar. The judgement also enjoins Michael T. Hughes from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The consent judgments against the other individuals enjoin them from violating Rule 102 of the anti-manipulation rules of Regulation M. The defendants consented to entry of the final judgment without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Howard Kim, Sandra Yanez, Jack Kaufman, Alan Maza, Celeste Chase and Adam S. Grace in the New York office, and supervised by Lara Shalov Mehraban. The SEC's litigation was led by Mr. Kaufman and Mr. Kim.
For further information, see Litigation Release No. 23863:
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23863.htm
Watson21
9 years ago
Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Arista Power filed for chapter 7. Arista Power files Chapter 7 bankruptcy
By WILL ASTOR
Rochester Business Journal
January 15, 2016
Arista Power Inc. has declared bankruptcy.
A Chapter 7 petition the Webster wind turbine company filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rochester states the firm’s liabilities at $2.2 million and its assets at $1.
The filing lists no secured debts. It states more than half of the $2.2 million total—$1.25 million—as owed to TMK-ENT Inc. to repay a revolving loan. Public records show TMK-ENT to be an Avon, Livingston County, corporation headed by Tim Davin.
Previously known at different times as Windtamer Corp. and Future Energy Solutions Inc., Arista’s main product was a patented, high-efficiency wind turbine invented by company founder Gerald Brock, who started the company in 2001.
What led to the firm’s downfall is not clear.
Arista’s last top official, former President and CEO William Schmitz, did not respond to a request for comment this week. The wind turbine firm’s bankruptcy attorney, Mikal Kreuger of Dibble & Miller P.C., declined to comment, saying he was not authorized to speak.
According to the firm’s bankruptcy filing, Schmitz, along with several of the firm’s board members and officers, resigned in November.
The wind turbine firm went public in 2008. Trading over the counter, its stock sold for as much as $18 a share in 2009.
Arista terminated its public company registration last March, stating it would no longer file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC records show. Arista shares (OTC: ASPW) were then trading in the 6 cent to 9 cent range.
In 2009, when the wind turbine maker, then located in Livingston County, put its first product on the market, company officials projected sales of $500 million by this year. Schmitz, who had previously served as Ultralife Corp.’s chief operating officer, joined Arista as president in 2009.
Citing “willful disobedience of material and lawful instructions of the board of directors and (company CEO),” the company’s board ousted Brock as head of research and development in 2010. Brock would keep a board seat, the company said.
In 2010, the wind turbine company left Livingston County, moving to a 1999 Mt. Read Blvd. office park in Rochester. Officials then projected $25 million in orders for the following year. In 2012, the company announced that 2011 orders had shown a 179 percent increase but at $1.5 million had fallen short of the 2010 projection.
In 2012, Arista inked a $922,000 contract with the U.S. Army and concluded what looked like a promising deal to team up with General Electric Co. to market an Arista system that would use a new G.E. battery. The company scored a second $625,000 Army contract in 2013.
In 2013, the most recent year for which Arista publicly reported full-year financial results, the company stated a $3.3 million net loss on revenue of $2.2 million. The 2013 loss was down from $3.5 million in red ink on revenue of $1.99 million in 2012.
Citing anticipated sales of its Power on Demand energy saving system, Arista moved to larger quarters in 2013, taking additional office and manufacturing space at the Mt. Read Boulevard office park.
The firm relocated to Webster last year. Arista’s former landlord, 1999 MT RB LLC, sued Arista last June in an ongoing action, state Supreme Court records show.
While Arista’s bankruptcy petition lists the case as a no-asset filing, whether there are company assets that might be sold to pay Arista’s creditors in a liquidation is not clear.
The firm’s bankruptcy petition states Arista’s assets at $1, but the company also lists materials and equipment of unknown value as property it owns.
The list includes raw materials, components and equipment at the firm’s 680 Basket Road headquarters, a partially installed system at Zweigles Inc., goods held for resale at Sentry Safe, and materials for an in-progress project at Queens Landing Inc., an upscale New York City waterfront high-rise.
Queens Landing also appears in the filing as a creditor owed $96,560.
Other property Arista lists in the bankruptcy filing includes office furniture, fixtures and phones it left at its former Mt. Read Boulevard quarters.
1/15/2016 (c) 2016 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.
orestis
9 years ago
This one:
go4win Wednesday, 11/12/14 09:08:47 AM
Re: None
Post #
6210
of 6239 Go
PATENT APPROVED !!!!!
On November 11, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent (“Patent”) to Arista Power, Inc. entitled “Energy Storage and Power Management System”. The Patent relates to a system to manage the storage of energy to, and the release of energy from, an energy storage system with such energy being generated from one or more renewable sources of energy, traditional sources of energy or the electric grid, or a combination of any or all of these sources, resulting in a reduction of the power demand from the electric grid of a user of the system and/or of the high consumption charges during peak usage times of a user of the system. The Patent was assigned U.S. Patent No. 8,886,363.
k9bigdog
9 years ago
It's been 4 years, soon patience runs thin. If only a response, that would help in keeping the faith. I don't understand why no one can communicate with them, including myself, I have tried email, phone ,left messages yet nothing. If I still lived in Rochester I would go to the office myself, but we have moved to Florida.
orestis
10 years ago
"On March 27, 2015, Arista Power, Inc. (the “Registrant”) terminated its registration under the Securities Exchange of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), thus terminating its filing of periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)."
ASPW's last filing. You can read the whole thing on the Arista page here at IH.
How can an investor look at that? Positively, they can say the company is in delicate negotiations to licence the patent it just got. Soon we'll be rolling in money.
Negatively, an investor has a whole universe of nasty scenarios to pick from.
Other than flying to Rochester and knocking on the door does anyone know of a way to get answers from the company?
go4win
10 years ago
PATENT APPROVED !!!!!
On November 11, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent (“Patent”) to Arista Power, Inc. entitled “Energy Storage and Power Management System”. The Patent relates to a system to manage the storage of energy to, and the release of energy from, an energy storage system with such energy being generated from one or more renewable sources of energy, traditional sources of energy or the electric grid, or a combination of any or all of these sources, resulting in a reduction of the power demand from the electric grid of a user of the system and/or of the high consumption charges during peak usage times of a user of the system. The Patent was assigned U.S. Patent No. 8,886,363.
Patentinvestor
10 years ago
This hiring tells me that ASPW may wake up and rise from the dead:
On June 2, 2014, Molly Hedges submitted her resignation as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Arista Power, Inc. (the “Company”), effective June 13, 2014.
(c) On June 6, 2014, the Board of Directors of Arista Power named Stephen Brown as the Acting Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Arista Power, effective June 16, 2014. Upon joining the Company, Mr. Brown will be the Company’s Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer. Mr. Brown, age 58, will report to Arista Power’s Chief Operating Officer, Adeeb Saba.
There is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Brown and any other person, pursuant to which Mr. Brown is to be selected as an officer of the Company that would require disclosure under Item 401(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, there is no familial relationship between Mr. Brown and any other person that would require disclosure under Item 401(d) of Regulation S-K. Except as described herein, Mr. Brown is not a party to any transactions that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Steve Brown served as several executive positions including as Chief Financial Officer for IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) from April 1995 to January 2009 in which he oversaw the financial end of taking the start-up telecommunications company public and guided it through the spin-offs of two subsidiaries, various public offerings and bank facilities. During his tenure at IDT, Mr. Brown also served on IDT’s Board of Directors for six years, and on the Board of Net2Phone Inc. (NASDAQ: NTOP) for five years. Mr. Brown was also the founder and chairman of IDT Entertainment Inc., a movie studio and media subsidiary that IDT sold for a profit in excess of $225 million. From 2009 to present, Steve is a managing partner of The Mcguffin Group Financial, a financial consulting firm concentrating on advising early stage companies. Clients served include Cardis Enterprises International, Hyperactive, Xsovt Brands Inc. and NJR Medical Inc. Steve also is a partner in an accounting and tax practice, Brown, Brown and Associates. Steve is a licensed certified public accountant and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and serves on the Board of Directors for several educational institutions including serving on the Board of Governors for Touro College. Mr. Brown received a B.A. degree in Economics from Yeshiva University and a B.B.A. degree in Business and Accounting from Baruch College.
With the exception of the Arista Power 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “2008 Plan”), and the below-described grant of restricted common stock and stock options to purchase common stock of Arista Power, there is no material plan, contract or arrangement to which Mr. Brown is a party, or in which he participates, nor has there been any material amendment to any plan, contract or arrangement, by virtue of his appointment as Acting Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.
Mr. Brown will be paid an annual salary of $78,000 per year. On his start date of June 16, 2014, Mr. Brown will be awarded pursuant to the terms and conditions of the 2008 Plan: (1) 50,000 shares of the Company’s restricted common stock with 10,000 of such restricted shares vesting immediately and 40,000 of such restricted shares vesting in six months; and (2) 350,000 stock options with 50,000 of such options vesting immediately, 50,000 of such stock options vesting every six months after the Mr. Brown’s start date for the next 24 months, 25,000 of such options vesting 30 months after Mr. Brown’s start date and 75,000 of such options vesting if Mr. Brown is named Chief Financial Officer of the Company. All of the above-referenced shares of restricted stock and stock options will vest in full upon any of the following: (a) the Company consummating fundraising in an amount of no less than $3,000,000; (b) the Company entering into a line of credit to finance its system in an amount of no less than $3,000,000; and (c) the investment by a strategic investor in an amount of no less than $1,000,000.
Mr. Brown has some very successful credentials. He could make some chess moves to turn this around. Worth watching.
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wakl
10 years ago
