Urban AG Accused Of Making Kickback Payments To A Hedge Fund

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – A microcap company and its CEO are being looked at by the SEC for orchestrating a pair of illicit kickback schemes and an insider trading scheme involving the company’s stock.

The SEC is alleging that Massachusetts based Urban AG Corp. and its president and CEO Billy V. Ray Jr. of Cumming, Ga., schemed to make an undisclosed kickback payment to a hedge fund manager in exchange for the fund’s purchase of restricted shares of stock in the company. 

In a separate kickback scheme, Ray made an inducement payment to a stock promoter who would purchase shares of Urban on the open market ahead of planned press releases to help him manipulate the stock.  Meanwhile, stock promoter Wade Clark participated in Ray’s insider trading scheme involving Urban stock by providing the hedge fund fiduciary with an advance copy of a press release containing material nonpublic information about the company so the hedge fund manager would purchase stock prior to the news being issued.

The SEC is seeking financial penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and permanent injunctions.  The SEC also seeks penny stock bars against all of the individuals charged in these cases as well as an officer-and-director bar against Ray.

Alex Akesson
Editor For HedgeCo.net

alex@hedgeco.net
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