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March 8, 2018

Posted  June 1, 2018

The SEC has charged Shezad Akbar, Americrude, Inc., and Daniel Waite with defrauding investors out of at least $950,000 through a string of fraudulent oil-and-gas securities offerings. The SEC’s complaint, which was filed yesterday in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Akbar used his company, Americrude, Inc., to defraud multiple investors in seven securities offerings that purportedly raised funds to acquire working interests in oil-and-gas prospects.  The SEC alleges that Americrude, Akbar, and Waite, who was Americrude’s nominal President, used a combination of cold calls, high-pressure sales pitches, and false and misleading statements to lure investors into Americrude’s fraudulent offerings.  The defendants misrepresented Americrude’s track record, the reserve potential of its oil-and-gas prospects, and its intended use of proceeds from the offerings.  Akbar is also alleged to have used an alias to conceal his involvement in the offering fraud and to hide his prior felony convictions from potential investors. Waite consented, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, to the entry of a final judgment that permanently restrains and enjoins him from violating multiple SEC law and regulations; restrains and enjoins him from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any oil-and-gas related securities, provided however that such injunction does not prevent Waite from purchasing or selling oil-and-gas related securities for his own personal account; and orders him to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains totaling $32,409.52, prejudgment interest of $1,763.30, and a penalty of $100,000. SEC

Tagged in: Misrepresentations, Securities Fraud,