SEC Settles Manipulation Charges in OTC BB Stock

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a Final Judgment of permanent injunction and other relief, including a bar against participating in offerings of penny stocks, against Jeffrey A. Hayden on May 7, 2008. Without admitting or denying the Commission's allegations, Hayden consented to the entry of the Final Judgment. The judgment settles the Commission's claims against Hayden in a civil action filed on August 16, 2007, in which the Commission alleged that Hayden had participated in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the stock price of Nationwide Capital Corporation, a now-defunct company whose shares traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.  The SEC alleged that, in August and September 2002, Hayden and others carried out a scheme to manipulate the price of Nationwide's stock that artificially inflated Nationwide's stock price from pennies to $9.35 per share. The scheme collapsed on October 1, 2002, when the SEC suspended trading in Nationwide securities.

Hayden was liable for disgorgement of $290,798, together with prejudgment interest of $116,330, but payment of these amounts was waived based upon Hayden's sworn Statement of Financial Condition. A civil penalty was not imposed for the same reason.