For all the heat the SEC has taken lately, you have to give them full marks for cracking down on the micro-cap pump and dump schemes. Here is the latest:
Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2008 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Telomolecular Corp. and two of its former executives for their roles in a stock scheme based on false claims to investors that the biotechnology start-up company was on the verge of financial and scientific success in developing anti-aging treatments and cancer cures. (FULL STORY)
SMALL-CAP AND MICRO-CAP CEO’S HAVE TO MAKE REALISTIC CLAIMS
The Telomolecular offense isn’t as far off the beaten path as you would think. We still continue to receive calls from companies that make some pretty outrageous claims. Yes, some are complete scams but some are from well-meaning CEO’s that have simply fallen too far in love with their company and waayyyy overestimate their capabilities.
If you fall into the latter, don’t think you’re too far off from getting yourself busted by the SEC. Having evil intentions isn’t a necessary pre-requisite to charges being laid by the SEC.
“Companies raising capital from investors need to provide realistic and
accurate information about their resources and prospects for future
success,” said Marc Fagel, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office.”
CONCLUSION
Keep it real. There is nothing wrong with being super enthusiastic about your product or service – but you have to separate that from your public communications and performance expectations. Google wasn’t built in a day, so neither will your company.
Regards,
George
Last modified: July 13, 2026
I am a former contractor to Telomolecular corporation I was personally told by M.A. Sarad the now indicted former CEO of Telomolecular that they were “close to a cure for cancer” He made the same claims to several newspapers that were also published on the Internet. His claims were extravagant and way beyond what i would call super enthusiastic.
The scientific reports where DNA circles were put into cells to change their genetic sequences were performed on dead cells and no published reports on live cells have ever been published. I asked the scientist who performed those experiements if they had even been done to live human cells, and he could not give me any published references.
He became very terse and evasive when i asked him and he subsequently stopped answering my phone calls even though i was a paid member of their scientific staff for one year.
I am aggrieved in this case.
If you know a lawyer who will sue them for me, contact me at the e-mail address above.